A Family's Instinct
by Ilse Montague
Summary: Hinata, Pressured and with no self confidence, literally hates herself after and accident on a mission. But, an undercover trip to Kirigakure, gets her life back into motion, yet problems lie ahead. An, HinataXOC, development, probs Sequel.
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own ANY of Naruto, or the characters, or ANYTHING

**Disclaimer: **I don't own ANY of Naruto, or the characters, or ANYTHING

This is set, Hinata is 16, Sasuke is gone, Naruto is at home, and Itachi is already dead, etc etc. This is just an "I fancied doing it" sort of thing, and I have a lot of material. Personally, I like a good long story, so that's exactly what I'm gonna give! I hope to get a few tears too… Anyway, away with the story!

**Chapter 1; the Beginning **

Pain lanced through Hinata's arm, as the trap triggered, sending exploding tags and shrapnel into different directions. But, her pain didn't matter. She watched, horrified, as Kiba was thrown away by the explosion, his blood staining the foliage.

"KIBA!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, and dashed to him, not pausing to think of secondary traps. A horrid realisation hit her as she watched his bloodied body fall with a sickly _Thud _to the floor. This was her fault. She had the Byakugan. _She _was the Hyuuga. _SHE_was meant to be looking out for her teammates.

It was her fault that Kiba now lay in a pool of his own blood. Akamaru was howling out at no one, Shino was shouting a string of curses, fighting off enemy ninja, and Kakashi, temporarily standing in for Kurenai, was far away, scouting ahead for spies.

Their mission was merely to gather information on assassins, and it had gone horribly wrong. She chocked back a sob, and swallowed her vomit, before helping attach Kiba to Akamaru's back.

**--**

She waited, in the impossibly white and clean hospital, shivering. Kiba was in the medical room that her cousin Neji had been in after the mission to bring back Sasuke. The damage was that bad.

She sat, wringing her hands in her lap, her hair, matted and greasy, falling in front of her. She had refused to leave until the operation was done, and had resisted Kurenai and Shino's prompts to go home, and she knew Neji would be here soon to shift her by force. She didn't want to leave. The guilt and self-loathing was eating away inside.

I shouldn't even be a ninja. I'm useless, and a disgrace to the name of Hyuuga. As she thought this, she felt Neji's presence take the last few steps towards her.

_"Its okay, I'm quitting as soon as Kiba is fine. After this, father will throw me out of the Hyuuga mansion, you'll become leader of the Hyuuga clan, and everyone will live happily ever after once I've gone"_ is what she desperately wanted to say, without one stutter on her words, to show she was serious.

Instead, she made an indistinct squeak, and began to shake uncontrollably again. Hinata felt strong arms encircle her, and jumped at the contact. It was the first touch from someone else in days. Neji was _hugging _her. Maybe he felt sorry for her, and wanted to lift her spirits a bit before kicking her down?

He let go of her quickly, but, the slight show of support for her, made her calm down, and stop shaking too bad. He looked at her, with his serious expression, and cold silver eyes, and she could see a hint of empathy, deep within them. His teammate, Lee, had been to hell and back too, with his injuries from Sabaku no Gaara.

"It's not your fault, Hinata-sama…" he said slowly, with that cool, monotone voice of his. Here, she snapped, and jerked her hands away from him.

"N-no, i-its a-all _my _fault, Neji-nii-sama!" she blurted out between sobs. "I-I'm a Hy-" she hiccupped softly, quietening down her voice, "I'm a Hyuuga h-heiress! I-I sh-should b-be better!" she finally forced out through her guilt ridden tears. "B-but, I-I'm just n-not cut out f-for being a n-ninja…." she said, and lowered her head onto Neji's shoulder, and quietly cried into his garment, ruining it with her salty tears.

"Is that what you really think Hinata?" said a soft voice to their left. Hinata's head jerked up, to see Sakura, pale and sweating, exit the surgery room.

"Kiba's surgery is finished, and he'll be moved to a ward presently. His condition is stable, he will live. But, my worry is you, Hinata-san" she said, and slowly walked towards them wiping her brow. "Your Kekkei Genkai is one of the most advanced, and you are very talented. And, what would Naruto think if he heard you talking like that? What would Naruto-kun say?" she said, and then smiled.

"Go home, Hinata, get washed, get fed, and get to sleep, you can visit Kiba tomorrow. He should be awake by then. Neji-kun, please take care of her. Excuse me" she said, and bowed her head to them both, and took off running down the corridor. Neji watched her go, and turned his attention to Hinata, who'd been watching Sakura with a certain look of awe.

"Come on then, Hinata-sama. I'll get you in without Hisashi-ojii-sama seeing" he said, and swiftly picked her up bridal style, and hushed her before she could stutter out her complaints. "Just let me serve you, Hinata-sama" he said, and took off back to the Hyuuga compound.

--

Hinata awoke, some time in the early hours of the morning, and feeling very unclean. She quickly jumped up, and shivered in her freezing room. She was still dressed, minus coat and shoes.

Neji must've just left her here, she figured, and wondered what time she had arrived back at the Hyuuga compound. Embarrassingly enough, she had fallen asleep easily in Neji's strong grasp. She tiptoed down the hall, glancing at her watch. 3 AM, great. She quickly drew a bath, and scrubbed all the dirt, explosive powder, and cold sweat she had collected from the last few days, firmly off her skin, till she was as pale as a piece of paper again.

Hinata looked at her bath water and grimaced. It was a brownish colour, with bits of grass and grit floating in it. She shivered, I have to get into some warm clothes, I think I might freeze to death, she thought to herself, and she ran down the hall with only a towel wrapped round her.

She dressed quickly, towelling herself dry in the process, and she felt the need to busy herself with mundane tasks. So, she then brushed her hair, tidied her room, completed a report, arranged her wardrobe into colour order, fished out shoes from under her bed, arranged her books by alphabetical order on her shelf, emptied her bin, and collected all her weapons and ninja gear together.

When she was done busying herself, and could find not other excuse to shuffle around her room like a wounded dog. She sat on her bed, and cried a bit more. Her thoughts drifted back to _that_ night, and she realised where she went wrong.

She had trained endlessly the past few nights, and she was exhausted, so her eyesight wasn't at perfect form. But that was still no excuse! She chastised herself, and stood, pulling her jacket and ninja sandals on, before, slipping out her window, and into the morning air. As she jumped easily from rooftop to rooftop, her azure hair, dry now, and flicked at the ends, whipped behind her.

It felt nice to be out, the crisp still air covering Konoha. She stopped on an apartment block roof close to Hokage tower, and looked out across the green village. The sky, already brightening in the east, was a thick black/blue colour, which melted into the rich yellows and orange of a sunrise. The chilly air signifies a hot day, as the summer reaches its peak.

The terracotta roof tiles began to lighten as the light spilled across the land, casting a romantic light over the trees and birds and intricate houses of Konoha. People would be stirring from their sleep right about now, ready to enjoy the summers day. Not for Hinata though.

She turned away from the rising sun, and jumped on towards the Hokage tower. As she entered the stairs, she heard a brief chatter of someone further up. She paused, and carried on up loudly, not bothering to hide her presence. She didn't know what she was planning doing, maybe going to collect her punishment from Tsunade-sama, but, she knew she was far too early for the Hokage to be awake. So, she might as well see who _was _up at this time, just to have someone to talk to.

She got to the head of the stairs, and saw a man, looked like he was in his late 40's, talking animatedly with a young man, who couldn't have been much older than Hinata herself, and who was looking straight at her. She could tell he was a ninja, but, not a ninja from Konoha. She continued on un-hindered, and walked straight past them, sighing deeply.

"Ah, I tell you, my son, we must at least ask, I mean we've paid for the informati-ah!" the old man stopped suddenly as he caught sight of a sullen Hinata. "Ah, excuse me miss, sorry to be a bother, but I was wondering if you could help us" he said, pleasantly enough. And, if Hinata had not been very wary, at this moment in time, and had been normal, she mightn't have been too wary of the two strangers.

"Ah, I-I a-am Hinata, and, m-may I ask w-who you are?" she said, bowing her head slightly. She heard the Ninja boy scoff at her, and she felt her embarrassment in her cheeks.

"Ah, yes, I am Asa Amaya, from the Water Country" he said, and bowed his head to her. Hinata turned to the ninja expectantly.

"What?" he asked gruffly. Hinata felt her dislike for him rise, and she flushed as he stared angrily at her.

"Y-your name, and F-forehead p-protector, s-sir" she said, and looked at him again, a resolve forming in her pale silver eyes. He grunted, and shifted his collar, revealing a forehead protector from the Hidden Village of the Mist, 4 lines, in a diagonal direction. "Kosuke Amaya" he said shortly. Hinata nodded, and turned to Asa-san.

"How m-may I help, Amaya-s-san?" she said, smiling slightly to be polite.

"Yes, I'm looking for the Hokage, we paid for a mission for the Ninja's of Konoha, and we'd like a result" he said, smiling cheerfully.

"A-at s-such and early hour?" she asked, smiling back. These men, if they were assassins, she could maybe take them. I mean, what idiots would come at such a ridiculous hour in the morning to see the Hokage? Had they never met Tsunade-sama?

She was very powerful, but tended to sleep on the job, so it was ridiculous to expect her to be up _this _early. Hinata quickly surveyed their surroundings. They were in a small hallway, with a staircase at the far end and many doors all around. She could feel the chakra of a few tired ninja, working the nightshift in the lower floors, but no one who could really help her quickly. She felt the urge to reprimand these Assassins, sort of as a pay-back for Kiba.

"Ah, yes, well, we hadn't timed our arrival well, so we arrived a tad early" he said, and looked at her expectantly, as if his answer was good enough.

"So, y-you walked th-through the night, to a-arrive th-this early in th-the morning?" she said, glancing between the two. She suddenly felt her heart gallop away in her chest as she challenged these men and was sure that Kozue person would hear it. Asa looked taken aback.

"No, we err" he stopped, seemingly realising how odd their story sounded. Kozue shifted a tiny bit, and Hinata's bold eyes snapped to him.

"I'm a-afraid I'm u-unable to assist you. I c-cannot let y-you see the H-Hokage. F-for safety reasons" she said, and stood upright, looking at them both, and turning to go down the stairs. "N-now if you'll both q-quietly c-come with me-" she began, only to be cut off my Kozue's angry outburst.

"We don't have time for this woman! We need the information on the assassin attempts against the life of the Elders of the Amaya clan!" he shouted moving as If to grab her arm. She stood back, and lifted her hands into a defensive position. "Kosuke Amaya-san, c-calm down. I-I am not at l-liberty t-to d-depart with that information" she said, and remembered the night of Kiba's accident vividly.

That was the mission they were on, to find that information. They'd found out that the Amaya clan was susceptible to an attack. It was their fault as much as her own, for asking that mission to be done.

"Please…er, Hinata-san! We're begging you! These are our relative's lives at steak! From a threat within our own country!" he shouted again, stepping forward. Hinata looked into his dark chocolate brown eyes, the pleading evident, his cropped black hair, with golden and red streaks, flopped over his left eye, giving him a look of madness.

"WHAT'S ALL THIS RACKET, SO EARLY IN THE MORNING?!" The Hokage burst open her office door, standing in the hallway, looking exhausted. Looks like she had had a hard night. Hinata flinched, and scurried up to her, quickly explaining the situation to her in a quiet, jittery voice. All her adrenaline was catching up to her. She hadn't realised she'd been preparing herself for a fight.

"Alright, Come in, Amaya-san, both of you" she said, and stomped inside her office. Hinata sighed, and watched with a slightly sheepish look as they entered, waves of anger emanating dangerously from Kosuke. She was about to leave, when she heard the Hokage's booming voice asking her to enter also. She quietly followed them in, and stood in the corner, whilst Tsunade addressed the men. She told them nothing Hinata hadn't known, so she slowly drifted from concentration, and stared out the window sadly, thinking of Kiba.

"Well, Hinata?!" Tsunade demanded. Hinata jumped, her attention snapping back to Tsunade.

"Ano, s-sorry, Tsu-Tsunade-sama, I-I wasn't l-listening" she said, her face flushing a lovely fuchsia colour. Tsunade sighed, and Kosuke gave a huff of contempt.

"I said, since your team was the ones who collected the information, I think it makes sense that you are sent on a further mission to protect these men undercover back in Kirigakure (hidden village of mist), if your teammates and Yamato-san comply, of course" she said, waving her hand tiredly. Hinata stared at her blankly, shock evident.

"B-but, K-Kiba-kun, Hokage-sama…And Kurenai-sensei" she trailed away, hurt in her eyes.

"_Yes, _well if you'd been _listening_, you'd know I'd volunteered my apprentice Sakura Haruno as his replacement, for her excellent healing abilities. She would be an invaluable member out in the field. Plus, since Yamato hasn't got a team to look after, as Naruto is with the Toads, he'll replace Kurenai-san" she said, looking at Hinata with all sincerity.

But, had she forgotten that Hinata had nearly gotten Kiba killed!? Where was her punishment, her exile from the village for being a failure? She was instead being given a second chance? She looked at Tsunade for a few seconds longer, before registering what the Hokage was trying to do. She was trying to get everyone's mind off of Kiba.

His recovery must be a long one, for them to be given such a lengthy mission. And a giant dog was very suspicious going undercover. This is perfect for them, but Hinata could feel a niggling doubt in her mind, that made her want to run far away.

But she had to at least try and prove herself again! She has to believe, like Naruto does! Naruto believes in her! She must have the strength to protect her friends, and these people, no matter how much the boy might hate her. She quickly nodded, adding that if her team complied, she'd do it. This mission was for stealth, and with Shino's bugs, Hinata's Byakugan, Yamato's strange Mokuton jutsu, and Sakura's medic abilities, they were probably the quietest team.

--

That very evening, Hinata was packing for the following morning. She had visited Kiba, but he wasn't awake. Instead, she sat and told him in a wavering voice that she and Shino was to go on another mission. She had quickly fled the hospital when his scary sister had appeared.

She sighed, slowly re-packing her bag. She had packed and repacked a few times now, until had eventually asked Neji what she'd need. He just said a raincoat, and civilian clothes that could hide ninja weapons. She had packed lots of things, and as a last minute thought, packed her two Yukata's, just in case.

It was a long journey, but, there were plenty of towns on the way, they could book into a hotel or something, and she had a lot of saved money. She was never one for spending money.

She sighed, and pondered to herself as she looked at her insanely tidy room from this morning's episode, about what the country of the Water would be like, when a knock at the door tore her from her thoughts.

She opened the door, to see Neji looking at her solemnly. Hinata began to panic, as he said her father wanted her. She followed him quietly, her breathing becoming erratic.

What on earth did her father want? To punish her? She didn't really want to leave the Hyuuga compound, but what if he kicked her out? She didn't want to be the heiress in all honestly, but she wanted to please him, make him proud at least once. Her mind raced with the possibilities.

She had to stop as she walked into Neji in her daze. She stuttered out a failed apology, and registered this is where the clan meets were held. She walked in, and was ordered to sit at the back.

Hanabi was there, she had been here often, even though she was so young. Hinata's father had long ago disowned Hinata, leaving Kurenai to look after her, as a sort of surrogate mother.

But, ever since the Chuunin Selection Exams, her father had gradually began warming to her again. And now, about a week after her 16th birthday, she had attended a clan meet, even if she wasn't here for any specific purpose.

After the clan members had left, Hisashi turned to Hinata to generally berate her on her lack of confidence, and her weak attitude, and why couldn't she be more like Neji or Hanabi? And what was this talk of getting her Teammate killed? And why oh why had she started on a client?

Hinata merely sat with downcast eyes, letting her father walk all over her, feeling a slight lift as she realised Neji was unhappy at the way she was treated. But, anyone would. As she collapsed on her bed in the evening, she wondered why she had ever been born a Hyuuga.

--

The morning wasn't a happy one. It was scorching hot, she had a heavy bag, and she felt very uncomfortable without her big jacket. But, she just couldn't wear it. The words of her father, the lack of response from Kiba, the anger from this Kosuke boy was getting to her, and a faint wondering if Kurenai-sensei would be lonely, her concentration had literally died.

She'd just drift away in thought, and not return till someone physically brought her back. As they left the village, with their straw hats, and casual clothes, looking as much like farmers as possible, Sakura, who was uncomfortable with the silence, struck up different conversations with everyone.

The response was good, apart from with Hinata, Shino and Kosuke. Shino doesn't talk much anyway, Hinata was completely oblivious to the world, and Kosuke was desperate to get back, and had walked far ahead of them.

"You're from the Water Country, huh? So that means…he's from Kirigakure?" Sakura asked Asa as nonchalant as possible. She was, however, having flashbacks of Haku and Zabuza, as Zabuza has come from that hidden village, and their practise was to set children on each other.

"Yes, and I know what you're thinking, but, the Mizukage has long since abolished that practise, and Kosuke wasn't even born when that massacre occurred" Asa said sadly. He clearly remembered the terrible practise of setting children on each other as a graduation exam, and Zabuza's Graduation Massacre. Hinata had tuned into the conversation at the mention of "massacre" and wondered what on earth they were talking about.

They were forced to camp for the night, after a day's hard travelling. Hinata, unable to sit still, let alone sleep, had wandered into the night. She walked silently through the dense trees, and thick foliage, and had to stop and mentally slap herself.

Everything seemed like a floaty dream, like nothing was real. Merely 4 days ago, Kiba was attacked, and now, she was in the middle of a forest, having to protect some man and his stuck up son. It was a real shock to her system, but she could feel the pressure of the Hyuuga compound drifting away. She shook her head. She needed to focus, to get things straight in her head. She needed to practise her Taijutsu. She soon found a poor defenceless tree stump to torture, and set to work tearing chunks off of it.

--

**WOW, that's a lot o' stuff. I've edited it from the last version as I realised it sucked.**

**Now it's better-ish!**

**So, I've edited it, like 3 times now, lol.**

**If you can be bothered to read, then, well done you and I hope you review with any ideas!**

**Thanks! **

**Ilse. **


	2. A Meeting in the Wood

Disclaimer: don't own Naruto-o-o-o

**Disclaimer: **don't own Naruto-o-o-o!

**A/N: **I've picked holes in my last chapter, and improved it, did a bit o' research, and realised that Hinata has actually been disowned by her father, and left in the care of Kurenai Yuhi, and that's actually in the Manga (somewhere) and is a Naruto fact! And I've also noticed It's almost as if I'm writing an essay, so, I've tried to add a bit more emotion, as well as to keep Hinata in character as much as possible. There will be character development.

**Chapter 2****: A Meeting in the wood. **

And hour later, she stopped, out of breath, looking at the battered tree stump, and smiled to herself. Endorphins really do make you feel better.

She could feel her thoughts being collected already, like her mind was doing a mental tidy up.

"That's impressive Taijutsu" came a gruff voice. She jumped, her Byakugan activating, but she could only see Kosuke watching her. She frowned, and then put on a small smile.

"Th-thank you, Amaya-sama. W-why aren't y-you in bed?" she asked, and sat again on the springy grass, her shaky legs being unable to hold her weight.

"I could ask you the same thing, Hinata…err?" he queried for her last name. She hesitated though, and wondered if the people of Kirigakure knew about Hyuuga's. She just sighed, and said "Hyuuga" shortly, before lying down in the grass, looking at the clear starred sky. She heard a soft snort being emitted from him, and felt slight anger at his dismissal of her clan.

"No wonder. So, do you have a Byakugan?" he asked rudely, walking towards her. She frowned, and activated her Byakugan. I was going to anyway I'm not doing it just because her asked me to, she thought to herself, and it was half true. She wanted to try and increase her sight. Neji could 'see' incredibly far, and Hinata desperately wanted to be able to do such a feat.

So, Hinata ignoring Kosuke, and turned her head into the direction she knew Konoha was in. She stretched her vision, till she was looking at a black and white version of the dark and busy streets Konoha. First, she ventured to the hospital, and searched for a little while, before finding Kiba.

She felt a wave of relief crash through her as she saw him awake and arguing with the nurse. Hinata giggled, realising she probably wanted him to take his medicine. He'd always hate taking his medicine, she thought wryly. Having laid her mind to rest about Kiba's condition, she turned her attention to the Hyuuga Compound. She wanted to check on Hanabi.

Every night that Hinata was present at the mansion, Hanabi would come into her room, and lie with Hinata, and just talk. Hinata knew Hanabi had an awful lot of pressure from their father, so she felt good to be able to look after her little sister. What she saw when she found Hanabi, however, surprised her, and increased her worry tenfold. Hinata saw Hanabi lying in Hinata's room, crying.

Her worry made her chakra increase, which enabled her to zoom in. She could see her tears vividly, streaming down her young cheeks. Hinata unconsciously reached out with her hand, as if to touch her, but her vision blurred and dissipated to reveal her hand in front of her eyes, with trees swaying happily in the gentle wind.

She became aware of Kosuke watching her, but, she merely sat up, wiped her eyes briefly, and zoomed in again on Konoha. She searched for Neji, and just sat and stared at him. She was sure at one time in the past Neji knew she was looking at him, so she was going to try and get his attention. She saw him falter in his writing, and look over his shoulder.

She started to whisper, "Hanabi. Hanabi. Hanabi" she smiled slightly to herself as he stood, and headed off towards the courtyard, and thus past Hinata's room. She watched as Neji stopped outside her room contemplating then knocked and entered. Hanabi sat bolt upright in shock, swiftly wiping away her tears.

Neji looked on, and (using the little lip reading she knew) she could just make out him asking her what was wrong. She shook her head, but Neji just strode to her, and hugged her. Hinata sighed gladly. At least Neji would look after her. She wondered briefly why Neji was suddenly giving out hugs, but she dismissed it. That was a good thing. Her vision blurred, and her eyes began to ache from overuse, so she deactivated.

She lay back in the grass again, and looked up into Kosuke's frowning face. She stared back slightly petulantly, "y-yes?" she stammered out, and immediately felt herself blush at her _impromptu_ rude tone.

"Who's Hanabi?" he asked, looking at her strangely, but otherwise ignoring her rudeness. She felt like she was on display to him down on the ground, so she quickly stood up. Kosuke looked slightly taken aback by her sudden movement, but his eyes still pressed for an answer. Hinata, unnerved by his stare, shifted on the spot, and mumbled out that Hanabi was her sister.

"How old is she?" he asked suddenly, his voice wasn't gruff anymore, but had a surprising smooth quality to it, as his interest in her grew, and his frown faded away. Hinata noticed his face looked very friendly when he wasn't frowning.

"She's 8" she said, looking at Kozue with something akin to mild hostility. Hinata surprised herself, when she realised she openly disliked Kosuke.

Being a timid girl, she'd never particularly disliked or hated anyone. She'd never wanted anyone to be inconvenienced because of her. She wanted to please, and her "walk all over me" nature provided everyone with a perfect opportunity to use her. That's why she loved her team so much; they would protect her and never take advantage of her soft nature.

Her father had disowned her when she was young, because of the way she was, which was weak, preferring Hanabi a lot more than herself. But, He'd make her work much more than an 8 year old should. And because of that, Hinata still felt a lot of guilt, for not being good enough to stop her little sister shouldering all that responsibility, and for a long time, Hinata expected Hanabi to hate her. But, Hanabi never even disliked Hinata a little bit.

Hanabi was very wise for her age, she was not carefree as an 8 year old had the right to be, but she understood a lot about the world and she never blamed Hinata. That's why Hinata strained hard to prove herself to her father. Not because she really wanted to become the Heiress for herself, but she wanted it for Hanabi's sake. That's why she'd made the resolve to stop being such a pushover, and to become stronger.

"Why d-do you ask, Amaya-san?" Hinata asked, turning her attention back to Kozue, her hands fiddling with her sleeve, idly pulling at a loose thread. He made and indistinct noise, and sat on the destroyed tree stump, and looked up at the stars.

"No reason. I just miss my little brother, that's all" he said gently, in a way that surprised her. She watched as he smiled wistfully at the stars, his eyes lost in thought about his brother. She cast her mind around for something to keep the conversation going so it wouldn't become awkward. Her mind pulled up blank, so she merely stood there, staring at the green grass, sighing at her lack of social talent, while gently pulling the thread out of her sleeve.

She became very aware that Kosuke was again staring at her, and she felt her face flush red at the attention from him. "Am-Amaya-s-s-san-" she stuttered out, before she was interrupted by him.

"Please don't call me 'Amaya-san' " he said with distaste. Hinata, panicking at this, spluttered before suggesting, "Amaya-sama..?" and immediately regretted it.

His face turned foul, as his smooth features darkened over into a fierce frown. "And _definitely_ not 'Sama'!" he spat out, making her squeak in submission. Her mind became blank, as she watched him with wide frightened eyes. He was so intimidating, even when he was sat down, and bathed in pale moonlight, his mere stare made her heart begin to race with fear.

"Th-then, wh-what..?" she trailed away, and even after forcing herself to talk, her voice came out in a mere whisper. His gaze flickered away in annoyance, and he sighed. "Just, Kosuke-something, is fine, but, never call me 'Sama', am I clear, Hyuuga-san?" he said, and stood, his whole stature radiating importance. She wondered if he was some sort of leader for the Amaya clan. She nodded, and he turned to leave, when she realised that she had just let him walk all over her, again, as everyone does.

Her resolve hardened in the face of this intimidating boy. She would not let these strangers control her, for Hanabi's sake. "B-but!" she blurted out in a louder voice. He stopped, and glared daggers back at her.

She blanched, but continued. "You m-must c-call me 'Hinata-something', that'll be f-fine, b-but, never call me "H-Hyuuga-anything, d-do I make myself clear?" she said, imitating him, her mind being unable to work fast enough to create her own response.

His glare lessened, and she could see his features brighten into a smirk, then she added, "And never address me as "sama" anything" remembering how she hated it when Neji humbled himself for her.

She saw a flash of annoyance in his eyes and he turned to her again.

"Are you mocking me now?" he demanded, and strode to her. She froze and stared at him. She didn't expect this plan to backfire so horribly. But she continued on anyway, the image of Hanabi in her mind. "N-no, Amay-er, K-Kosuke-san" she corrected herself, and put a slight frown on her face. "Because, I take being called "Sama" seriously, because, not that you'd know, people call me 'Sama' back at the Amaya household, and they feel the need to distance themselves form me because of it. And I hate being called 'sama' in any case" he concluded, a fire in his eyes, as he leaned over her, looking down at her.

She suddenly had an overpowering urge to hit him away, his close presence scared her. She often got urges to do things, but, she didn't ever really take heed of these crazy urges. This time she did.

She slapped him, hard, right across the face, her action creating a resounding _smack_ in the clearing, and she quickly stepped away. She clenched her fist as the palm of her hand tingled from the blow.

"D-don't stand so c-close to me! And, I kn-know better th-than you think! I'm heiress t-to the Hyuuga c-clan" _well, not really, but, he doesn't need to know that, _she thought to herself. "And m-my cousin is f-forced to protect m-me and humble himself i-in my presence. An-and he h-hates m-me for it!" she said, her fists shaking as she clenched them, her words tumbling out of her before she could stop them.

Her sudden resolve to be a stronger person had appeared to make her want to spill her life story to him. But she refrained from talking before she went into further detail about herself and began to cry. She clenched her jaw, grinding her teeth together, and gulped hard to fight off some stray tears.

Kosuke looked at her in complete shock. And, not only because he was slapped, but by the fact she was such an important Hyuuga. He pondered for a time on she had said, before he began to freak out as he realised she was on the verge of tears. Crying women make him very uncomfortable.

"Ah, okay…" he said slowly, his mind still reeling at her, so he was unable to make a halfway intelligent response. Never before had anyone but his enemies stood up to him. He realised he even felt a bit alleviated that these Konoha Ninja's were unaware of his importance back home. A chance to lead a bit of a normal life. He was also an heir to a prestigious clan, and his clan, similar to what the Uchiha clan used to be for Konoha, was the police force, and the ninja backbone for Kirigakure.

After the ungainly practises of the children killing each other had been abolished, and Zabuza himself had been killed, Kirigakure has begun to redeem itself, taking an example of Hidden leaf village, and Hidden Sand village, and had begun to properly educate their Genin. The children wanting to become ninja, and the parents willing to let them become ninja, have almost tripled in number, making Kirigakure prosperous, and a powerful village.

And Kosuke had dreamed of just being a ninja, and being nothing more. Not having to deal with policing, and Clan meets, and anything so complicated as that. He wanted a simple life. But, as it was, he was trained form an early age to be a ninja, and taught the ways of his clan and the police force, and he became very skilled. Some may even call him a genius, but, he always refuses the compliment.

So, as he watches the Hyuuga girl in front of him, struggling with her words, and trying hard not to cry, he wonders if she is in a position like him, and is struggling to escape the Clan's grasp. He knew of the seriousness of Hyuuga's, and their strength, and this girl simply didn't fit their description. Maybe, that's why she's crying. Does she think she's weak?

Hinata had been trying to say something without bursting into tears for a while now, but Kazue appeared to be too lost in thought to notice. Suddenly, his eyes focused on her, and he smiled very suddenly. Her voice stopped, and she stared at his face. How different he seemed, how different he looked with his changing expressions. Like the sand on a beach, the ever changing appearance, to match the ever changing tide. He looked a lot friendlier, and a lot like he was a 16-17 year old.

"Don't fret, Hinata-san. You're strong, you'll pull through" he said with all the sincerity of a ray of sunlight. Her mouth dropped open at being called strong, and she felt like her insides were being manually inflated. "W-w-what…?" she whispered, forgetting her manners. Her frowned slightly, but repeated himself anyway. Hearing him say it again, made her sure he had actually said it. She slowly smiled back, a full, tooth-y grin, which made her face hurt.

"Th-th-thank y-you, K-k-k-Kosuke-san!" she eventually managed to say, dancing from foot to foot with genuine excitement. He simply watched on amused at her little display of emotion. He thought she looked like she might burst, and he'd be able to see her happiness shine from her like sunlight. He gently laughed and turned to head back to camp.

"Wh-where are y-you g-going?" Hinata asked in a worried tone. He looked over his shoulder, his face black again, after he'd wiped away his smile, and raised an eyebrow at her. Hinata's smile faltered, and she realised she should maybe calm down a little. She nodded and rubbed her cheeks to remove the smile, and began to follow him back.

She couldn't help a small smile and a small blush on the way back when she walked behind him. He couldn't help but want this trip to last longer than the 4 days it would take. She fumbled with her sleeves, and tugged at the small thread happily, her worries forgotten for the night. He smiled slightly to himself, at the knowledge that he has befriended the shy girl following him. They were both unaware of the watchful bugs all around them, documenting their every move.

**(I was gonna end here, but, I didn't think it was long enough, so I'll continue)**

As they arrived back in camp it was nearing midnight, but Hinata felt wide awake. "I-I'm not s-sure I'm g-going to get t-to sleep" she said jokingly, much more to herself that to Kosuke.

He glanced over at her, and nodded, sitting down at the side of the dead fire, which was left in embers. Hinata paused, unsure what to do, before she sat opposite him so the fire was between them, like she would when addressing her father; on her knees, her head bowed, and her hands folded in her lap.

Kosuke watched her, and wondered why she was very socially ignorant; she seemed unable to have normal conversations. But, he knew that life in a clan was stressful. He realised that sounded very much like he was a spoilt brat complaining about his pampered life, but he knew it was so. Lower clan members had developed unfounded hatreds for him; and social contact outside of 10 people at a time was rare, especially in Kirigakure.

That's why he'd loved school. Everyone knew his importance, but since children didn't care, and he collected his friends quickly so they knew him personally before they grew old enough to realise properly who he was, and not just think of a title. He wondered if her clan had held her back from being social. But, he didn't know Konoha, so, maybe she was simply shy, and the issue of her being a Hyuuga never came into a friendship equation.

But, what he did know was that there was someone here, Hinata Hyuuga, who just wasn't comfortable, with anything. He could tell by her stutter, her posture, and the way she seemed overjoyed by the fact he had mentioned that he thought she was strong.

His anger from before rose again slightly at her short sightedness. She was a Hyuuga! She wasn't weak! How can she be so stupid as to think that?!

He thought in frustration for a second, but then realised that it wasn't exactly that easy. There had to be some deeper reason. Kozue then turned to her, and was mortified to see her sitting like he was her superior. He _hated _that. He hated people lowering themselves for him, because it created a barrier between them, when he was _no different_ from them.

He nearly shouted at her to stop it, but, he realised it was unnecessary, and he'd wake everyone up. He sighed, and looked over to her, annoyance lacing his tone. "Hinata, _please_ relax. You're sitting like you're in front of a lord or something!" he said, and stood and wandered round the fire, seating himself about 5 feet from her. He wasn't sure about being so close, but he felt better now that she wasn't opposite him.

Hinata had gotten a shock when he'd broken the silence, and was even a little bit annoyed that he had gotten frustrated with her again. She'd also been shocked as he'd moved, and came and sat near her. She looked at him as he sat close to her, before copying his position, a cross-legged posture. But she felt uncomfortable like that, so she brought her legs up to her chest, so she felt more protected.

He was absently poking the fire, apparently lost in thought again. She took this opportunity to study him.

Kosuke was tall, a lot taller than her, but he had the strength of a Ninja, giving him a muscular build, and wide shoulders. His hair was cropped short, not as short as his father's, but more like Kiba's.

It was brown, at its roots, but faded into red and golden streaks. His face was fierce looking, and reminded Hinata of a Lion; in the blink of an eye, and just tensing a few muscles, he can look positively frightening. And she was pretty sure his father was the same, as they both looked similar, except his father was blonde with blue eyes, and Kosuke's was dark with rich chocolaty brown eyes, which shimmered in different lights.

His eyes could be almost black when he was angry, but they swam with warmth when he was smiling. She blushed as he glanced up at her, but he looked away to the two tents quickly, which had been erected earlier in the night. Hinata sighed. They had to sleep; they had to get to Kirigakure in the next 5 days or so.

They were in no real rush, since they knew the threat to the Amaya Clan wasn't in full swing yet. The plans were still being drawn, and were to be enacted in the winter time, possibly in spring.

Hinata was dreading being away from Konoha for so long, as she's never been to the Water Country before, but she understood it was very different from the Fire Country and The Wind Country. A lot of strange trees and wildlife, but very mountainous and just big plains of grass, with Hot Springs everywhere, and a lot of rain. And, apparently, the sea was beautiful.

"What's your c-country like?" she said, casting her eyes to the starry heavens. Kosuke, who was thinking about the little beetle scuttling around in the grass, jumped as Hinata suddenly spoke. He sighed, and looked at her.

"Well, as you know, The Water Country is composed of many islands, but the biggest is the one that holds Kirigakure. It's a beautiful island, but a very different kind of beauty than that of Konoha. Your world if flat, and leafy green, with terracotta buildings and bright blue skies. Ours is of tall mountains, snow-capped and proud, with great expanses of green fields in the summer, with horses and crops, and flooded fields, and big blankets of snow everywhere in the winter. The ocean is stunning. Its never the same from day to day, always shifting, sometimes calm, sometimes a great powerful monster, ready to swallow up ships and rocks" he said, his eyes glazed over in memory, his hand gestures becoming more flamboyant.

He suddenly stopped, and looked over to her, as if to check she was still listening. She nodded quickly, and gave a small smile, before turning to look at the dying embers.

She felt, very on edge around Kosuke, but somehow quite comfortable. His temper could be quite explosive, but, she knew that was due to outside pressure, and that his nature was very easygoing.

She knew, because that violent temper was very akin to a younger Neji, whenever her father wasn't around, after his father had passed away. He was quickly taught a lesson in manners, but Hinata knew this only deepened his hatred.

She sighed, and got lost in the reservoir of memories, and simply enjoyed the silence of the night. Hinata liked silence, and a bit of time to think, as she didn't like being forced to talk to anyone. But, she thought that silence in the company of another was golden. That's why she liked Shino so much.

She cast her gaze over the puzzling Kosuke again, who was poking a stick into the ground, frowning in thought, and sighed. She still didn't fully trust him. His temper made her wary, even though he was easy when he wasn't so wound up.

She didn't understand how he worked, and so she didn't know what would make him angry or anything, so, she'd always have to be careful what she said. She sighed, wondering how the next couple of months would work out, for them, and for their team.

**Ahh, another chapter. I'm getting better at this whole, "writing" thing, lol. I**** don't even really mind that no one has even reviewed; I'm going to keep writing, because, if I eventually get A reviewer, I WILL make that person cry! That is my life goal! And this is a practise story for one of my own making. **

**And, if anyone cares, I've edited EVERYTHING so far, **_**very**_** thoroughly, so there shouldn't be any mistakes. Although, I just changed the name of Kosuke, from Kozue, so, if I make a mistake, DO inform me!**

**BYE TO NO-ONE.**

**Ilse.**


	3. The Bon Odori

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, mate

**Disclaimer: ** Don't own Naruto, mate!

**A/N: **I had to find, like, ten extra names that were relevant, for this chapter, it was a paiiin, and also, I had to research the Bon-Odori festival, and all related elements. But, I DID learn an awful lot about Japan and stuff, and while Kishimoto says that Naruto is very Japanese-like, it's not completely the same. So yeah. I've research my little cotton socks off after everything to do with the Water country, and have edited respectively, so, ENJOY!

**Chapter 3: The Bon Odori. **

Everyone in camp the next morning awoke to the sound of a shrill scream. Hinata's heart leapt, she scrambled out her sleeping bag, and threw open the door to the tent, and dashed out, still in her "mission pyjamas", as Hanabi jokingly called them.

She looked around, and saw the boys scrambling out of their tent, weapons ready and waiting. Hinata looked round in fright, "Where's Sakura??" she asked urgently, causing her Byakugan to activate, showing her that Sakura was near a stream off to the west. What she saw next, almost made her burst into laughter, her worry melting away.

She quickly ran into the forest anyway towards a shocked Sakura, the rest of the team following behind her. She stopped just behind her, and just watched as Sakura was swiftly beating the strong Silver Haired Jounin into submission.

"Don't SCARE me like that, Kakashi-Sensei!!" she shouted, as Kakashi lay in a mangled heap on the floor. He'd obviously sneaked up on her as she washed her face. Several Nin-dogs surrounding him swiftly disappeared, apart from a small little one named Pakkun, who Hinata had met briefly before. She bent down to pat the Nin-dog, still giggling a bit.

Hinata looked up to Kakashi as he stood, and brushed himself down.

"Now, if you don't mind Sakura, I'd like to complete my mission. Hokage-sama sent me out late last night, and I've had no sleep trying to catch up to you" he said, and cast a lazy eye over the rest of the group.

Shino, surprisingly, was fully dressed, Yamato was in his boxers, Asa-san, who hadn't panicked at all, had a respectable shirt and pants, and Kosuke was just in his pants, and barefoot. Hinata also realised she was barefoot, but, she often travelled across the Hyuuga compound without shoes, so it made no real difference to her.

"Right, the Hokage sent me here to give you some extra information. The Elders of the Amaya Clan says they've reprimanded one of the chief conspirators, and have detained him in a high security cell. Since you've paid for these lovely Nin's services, they shall still accompany you until next spring, seeing as they are less likely to be in danger at winter, so you won't have to pay any extra price." Kakashi said, looking at Asa-san mainly, who grinned and nodded happily.

"She also wishes me to remind the team, and Yamato, that they are to be civilians, and _not_ ninja on this mission, so any of the ninja gear is strictly off limits, or at least out of sight, until the danger begins. She hopes that full, _convincing_ disguises can be achieved, and has sent through an "Iris Colorant" for Hinata's distinctive Hyuuga eyes. It's labelled as eye drops, for and infection or something. And also, hair dye for Sakura" he paused, handing them both bottles, Hinata's small, Sakura's large, and a small note attached to both.

Hinata looked puzzled for a second, but accepted it anyway. "And finally, she has said to begin being undercover as soon as possible, as, spies are present everywhere, and she wishes this mission to be successful. Amaya Asa-san, may I please speak to you for a moment? The rest of you are free to go" he said, and waved them away, handing a scroll to Yamato, saying and apology to Sakura, and heading off with Asa-san.

They headed quickly back to camp, and Hinata shivered, realising she was still in "mission pyjamas", of which included a pair of sweat pants and a tank top, and proceeded to get changed. When she and Sakura had packed the tent, they set to work dying their hair and eyes.

Sakura soon had mousy brown hair, with nice copper highlights, that complimented her green eyes, and Hinata had icy blue irises. There wasn't too much different to Hinata, her eyes were still very pale, but they were definitely blue.

Kosuke wandered up to camp, took one look at them and grimaced. Sakura scowled;

"What?" she demanded, flicking her brown hair back giving his a cold stare. He looked a bit taken aback, but he simply shook his head, and half shrugged.

"Nothing, really, but, you both still look like you've had easy lives. You don't look like farmers, you look like well paid people, trying to look poor" he said, but Hinata didn't understand.

"What do you mean?" Sakura demanded, and he sighed, and picked up his bag, and began packing various things as he explained.

"You don't look like farmers just because you buy clothes a farmer would wear. For one, both of you would have your hair very securely tied back, and your clothes would be stained and ruined and faded. You'd have dirt under you fingernails and your gloves" he pointed at Sakura's Chakra enhancing gloves, "would look a lot more careworn" he said, and shrugged slightly.

Sakura frowned, her anger dissipating, before reasoning with him, "so why aren't you in more 'farmer' type clothes?" she asked, pointing at his ninja jacket, and clearly visible Forehead protector tied around his neck.

He simply gave her a lopsided smiled, and leaned forward a little, his hair flopping over his eye. He then showed her the Symbol of the Amaya clan, a blue half circle, with a single brown line stretching down from the middle, which was attached to the back of his jacket. It resembled an umbrella.

"Because, if I tried to hide who I was, and someone recognized us, because my father's the Leader of the Amaya clan, One of the most prestigious clans of all the island chains of the Water Country, it would be a bit suspicious, now wouldn't it?" he said, in a slightly patronizing tone. Hinata could see a very different personality under the polite mask Kosuke hid behind. It made her wonder what he was really like.

Sakura merely grinned wickedly at him, and nodded. "Alright, you got be me there. But tell me this. The way Kakashi-sensei talked before, it was like your Clan was some sort of police force, I mean, what about the other ninja of Kirigakure?" she asked, standing, and dragging her hair back into the clip she used while working as a medic.

Kozue nodded, "you see, the Amaya clan is similar to what the Uchiha clan used to be for Konoha" at the mention of Uchiha, Hinata saw Sakura go visibly stiff, and begin to move with a certain bitter and saddened quality.

"Well, that was before the entire clan was wiped out by that rouge ninja, but, ours hasn't been so unlucky" he said lightly, staring at a small bag with a lot of contemplation, as if he was making a crucial decision.

Hinata watched Sakura sadly, as she knew Sakura still hurt deeply at her betrayal by Uchiha Sasuke. She hid it well, but Hinata's eyes were sharp, so she decided to try and get Sakura's attention.

"S-Sakura-san…? C-could you p-please Fr-French pl-plait my hair?" she asked timidly. It was like a physical pain for Hinata to ask her, she didn't want to inconvenience her, but, she didn't want her to ponder too much on Sasuke. Sakura looked at her, her eyes brightening as she nodded, and went over to set to work on Hinata's hair. Sakura considerately left her bangs and two bits of hair out of the plait, so she could still hide from public view.

Hinata felt a rush of gratitude and friendship for Sakura, as she was so strong, and kind and talented and a lot of other things. Hinata could only long to be like her. Hinata was getting increasingly nervous to be going to "The Bloody Mist Village" which is well known for its brutality, even after the previous Genin exam was abolished after the Massacre.

--

They travelled for another half day, and reached the Konoha border easily, passing into the Coastal province, and a small strip of land that stretched into the sea, and out towards The Water Country's Islands.

Here, they encountered a large river-side town, which appeared to be preparing for a festival, when Yamato announced they would be staying the night. It was a pleasant town, and bustling, with a feel of happiness, and no suspicions were aroused by their appearance. Even Shino went unnoticed, as his version of "Farmer" was to swap his white jacket for a brown one, with a pair of baggy green shorts.

As they booked into a hotel, two rooms, one for Sakura and Hinata, and one for the boys, and it was announced that they'd be eating out, there was a summer festival well underway, so they should get their best clothes on.

"S-Sakura-san, what do you th-think Yamato-san is planning?" she asked timidly as she came back form her shower, to find Sakura playing with her now brown hair with distaste. She looked up, and shrugged.

"He's probably going to try and get us all to be friends; he did that on our last mission. Our story is that we're distant relatives of the Amaya clan, here to give information to the Clan from Konoha. So, I suppose, we need to be well acquainted with them, to act like their relatives" she said, before letting her hair down.

"What sh-should we wear, Sakura-san?" Hinata asked, as she looked at her clothes without much inspiration. Sakura turned and smiled;

"Can I please put you in a Yukata, Hinata-san?" she asked excitedly. Sakura had always wanted to dress Hinata. She was frustrated by Hinata's tendency to cover herself up.

"Oh, y-yes, if y-you like, Sakura-san…" Hinata said, and felt her nervousness rise at the eagerness of Sakura.

So, about and hour later, they all emerged in Yukata's, and Geta sandals. As they entered the streets, it became clear it was a Bon-Odori festival, a festival to honour departed spirits. Hinata looked around in confusion.

"Yamato-san, isn't it th-the wrong t-time of year for Bon-Odori?" she asked timidly, shuffling up to him. He looked down at her smiling, "For Konoha, yes, we celebrate in July, but, here, it is celebrated in August" he said, and continued on into the crown.

Hinata gave a small frightened squeak at being separated, and quickly latched onto Shino's arm. Shino had adorned a Yukata, a lovely brown and white one, with a tree and leaf pattern, but still wore sunglasses, and a large straw hat. As they seated themselves in the corner of a busy restaurant, Hinata sighed in happiness.

She'd always loved the Bon-Odori Festival, because of the life of it. She'd always remember the happiest of her mother during the three days of the festival. She was happy she could be apart of it for the second time this year.

"I wonder what day it is, of the festival I mean" Sakura wondered, watching the people milling around outside, past stalls selling trinkets and fans.

"I believe it's the 3rd day, look, there's a large stall down there, selling the lanterns and candles" Asa said, pointing. Just then a waitress appeared, and Hinata got very carried away in the happiness of it all.

After their meal, as darkness fell over the streets of this busy town, Yamato caught their attention.

"Now, I haven't brought you hear for no reason at all" he began, and Shino adjusted his glasses.

"What did you want to tell us about our mission, Yamato-san?" Shino asked, adjusting in his seat. Yamato smiled, and pulled out a piece of paper, with a seal on, and Hinata recognised the paper that Kakashi had given him earlier.

"The Hokage has given me this, instructions for our team, and fake names for us too. The disguises would be useless if we were just going to use our own name" he said, and made a few quick hand signs, before summoning whatever was sealed in the paper. It was several scrolls, and a bottle similar to the 'eye drops' given to Hinata. He unfolded the first scroll, and began reading.

"At the country of the mist, Team 8 and replacement members shall be given aliases, so that Ninja of the Mist_, will not_ find out you are ninja of the leaf. This detail is crucial in protecting Amaya Elder's and the Amaya clan leader effectively. If the enemy ninja think that they have extra protection, or are aware that the Amaya clan know of their plans, they will be forced to attack with greater force, and with a more cunning approach. So far, the afore mentioned enemy's main ringleader has been captured, but, under the pretext that he is a missing-nin, and is not planning a _coup __d'état_ against the Amaya clan"

Yamato paused, looking at Asa, who nodded, and motioned for him to continue. "Also, you are acting like you're relatives to the Amaya clan, coming to give valuable information on The Akatsuki's Hoshigaki Kisame, one of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen, to the Amaya clan, which, Konoha knows, but has kept the information a secret" He looked around quickly, before continuing on.

"Under no circumstances are you to show that you are Ninja, never mind that of the Hyuuga or Aburame Clan, and the Hokage's apprentice. However, if you are forced to heal Sakura, try not to be too spectacular, and do it slyly. Same goes for Hinata and Shino, if you are forced to fight, try to keep it to an amateur's brawl, rather than skilled Shinobi" he paused, his eyes flicking further down the page of the scroll.

"On a final note, I bid you good luck, and I shall see you all sometime in spring. I will send update reports via messenger bird during the night, so keep and eye out. Yours, Tsunade, Godaime" Yamato finished, and put the scroll down, before handing out the smaller pieces of paper to the respective people.

Hinata took hers, and saw that Tsunade had prepared an alias for her, and a back-up story, along with spare "eye drops" because of their extended stay. Her new name was to be Aoko Kimi, and she was to be from a large family in the Northern Province of Konoha, Shino was to be her older brother; his name is Aoko Shino.

Their family's profession will be to grow Corn crops. She was a normal crop picker, but Shino was to be "bug expert" and mainly the getting rid of, away from corn crops. She would have to address Shino as "Onii-san" from now on.

Sakura, who was now called Kasumi Yuuna, was the daughter of Kasumi Yamato, whose sister was Shino and Kimi's fake mother, so therefore, were related but with differing last names.

Sakura's late mother was a local nurse, so Sakura knew about Medical things. Yamato and Asa were now step-cousins. They were only related by marriage of dead elders. They began trying to get used to their names, which wasn't hard for Shino or Yamato.

"Yama-err_, father_, how come yours and Shino's names are the same?" Sakura asked, tugging at her dark brown hair again, and tightening the obi on her Cherry blossom print Yukata, which had a bright orange dragon snaking around the hem at the bottom of the Yukata.

"Because…Yuuna…? I and Shino are not as well known as you and Kimi. If you were to be called "Sakura and Hinata" even with your disguises, it's very possible for enemies to make a connection. A Sakura from the fire country, will make them think of the Hokage's famous apprentice, and make them begin to look at you closer" he said, and Sakura blushed, muttering something about, "not being famous", while Yamato looked at Hinata.

"And, Kimi, you still look an awful lot like a Hyuuga, and you're the main branch's leader's daughter, they'd make the connections" Hinata simply nodded, tugging at her pale blue and indigo Yukata, pulling at the sleeves, looking at the bubble-like pattern.

Hinata was sat in between Shino, in his brown Yukata, and Sakura, and opposite Shino, was Yamato, opposite Hinata was Asa, and opposite Sakura, was Kosuke, who had remained quiet during the entire dinner.

"Is that it, Ojii-san?" Shino said, in an almost cynical tone. Yamato pulled and face, and shook his head, before turning to Asa expectantly. Asa sighed, and sat back leisurely in his chair, his presence making an impact on them all.

His Yukata was dark blue that faded into black at the bottom, with his Clan's symbol on the Obi, which he had casted aside, leaving the Yukata open, showing a scarred, but strong chest and abdomen.

Kosuke's Yukata was much the same, except the shoulder area was streaked with golden and red stretching down like rays of sun. It reminded Hinata of his hair.

"Before we reach Kirigakure, you need to be aware of its policies. As you know, it is referred to as the "Village of the Bloody Mist" and for good reason. It is renowned for being brutal, and even though its brutality has come less and less with the coming of each new generation since Zabuza, there's still adults out there who display a lot of cruelty, and our clan strives hard to make sure everyone sticks to the law, but uses force if necessary" He paused, which added impact to his words.

"The people of Kirigakure, and of the Country of the Water, are happy and kind, but to each other, and are very wary of Ninja's outside of the Amaya clan. Therefore the Amaya clan are constant targets for the few rouge ninja's. So travelling with us is a constant danger. But, we are very skilled, both of us are Jounin level in fact" this caused Hinata to look at Kosuke and Asa in surprise.

She was aware Kosuke was a ninja, but, she'd never seen him in battle, or do anything ninja-like. And she was completely surprised that Asa was a ninja at all, because she'd never seen him out of his traditional clothes.

"Since both of us are so skilled, we should be able to deal with threats without you having to get involved and revealing your identities" Asa continued. Then looked at them all seriously, his tone turning dark.

"I wish to say, that if you venture outside the Amaya complex, _do not, under any circumstances_ say that you are related to us, that is a very dangerous thing to do. If you abide by the rules, and act like normal citizens, then you will be fine. I also say, that outside the Amaya complex, the towns are just full of Ninja loyal to the Amaya clan, and part of our 'Police force', so don't get into trouble, because you'll be thrown in jail" he paused, sighing.

"And that is _NOT_ what you want to be doing in Kirigakure. Whatever you do in Konoha to get information out of spies, is probably what our guards do to pass the time. You girls" he said, looking at Sakura and Hinata seriously, "Will be raped as soon as they look at you, so, for goodness sake, don't do anything bad, _no matter what you see" _he said, and sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"And everything else is standard, don't wander into dark alleys, avoid staying out past dark, and don't follow anyone anywhere, not matter how nice they look. You should know fine well that transformation jutsu's are very convincing" he said, his voice becoming less and less dark.

Hinata felt her nerves kick up, and she could feel Sakura's apprehension too. They weren't allowed to be ninja's, so they were, in effect defenceless.

"Its also quite normal to carry around weapons, but, take a knife or sword, they are the custom in Kirigakure and, thankfully, nearly everyone is half-way experienced with them, so you wont have to hide your skills too much" he said, glancing at Yamato, who nodded in understanding. Hinata knew that since Yamato was ANBU, he would own a ninjatō, and have it somewhere in his luggage.

After a bit more talking, and explaining on Asa's part, they eventually left the restaurant, just in time to see the Bon Odori dance, and to light Lanterns and let them go in the river that ran through the center of the town. Hinata thought desperately of her lost mother when she let her blue lantern go, as she continued to worry endlessly over the arrival at Kirigakure, The Bloody Mist Village.

**I DO promise that the story will begin to pick up after this, and become more exciting, I just want to make sure that all the information is in the right place first. There's VERY little info on the Water Country, so I've really**** got a blank slate to work with, and assuming that Haku is from the Water Country, it seems like quite a snowy place, so, I've sort of, built up an image using that and assumptions. **

**Well, now, I AM surprised. I have 2 reviewers!! I'm so very happy! **

**And, I shall be posting now, and I have chapter 4 **_**ready and waiting**_** in the sidelines! The next Chapter shall be called**

"**Revelations of The Village of the Bloody Mist" **

**Goodbye to HeartBrokenHinata and Green Cat Claw. **

**Ilse.**


	4. The Village of The Bloody Mist

Chapter 4; Revelations of The Village of the Bloody Mist

**Disclaimer: Don't own, NARUTO!**

**A/N:** Exactly 6 days later, I have updated! This Chapter is just so I know everyone who is reading this is up-to-date with all the information if could possibly find on the Village of the Mist! Sorry for swapping between "Kirigakure" and like, "water country" I do it, coz, like, I forget the Japanese names! Enjoy!

**Chapter 4; Revelations of The Village of the Bloody Mist**

That night, as Hinata was trying to get to sleep, she heard a soft knock on the door to her room. She slipped out of bed, and over to Sakura, who had awaked at the sound. Sakura frowned, the pointed to her eyes, then to Hinata, indicating her to use Byakugan. Hinata complied, and turned to the door.

She saw a chakra signature, with millions of blots swarming around the systems, and a second chakra signature, which was ever so slightly different from normal, but Hinata could never figure out why. She changed her vision so she was looking at their faces, before deciding they were the real thing.

She swiftly stood to open her door to Yamato and Shino. They entered with sombre looks on their faces, and sat on the floor in the dark, indicating for Sakura and Hinata to join them.

Without any explanation, Yamato created a dome of wood over their heads, and lit a candle, placing it in the centre of their circle.

"What's wrong father?" Sakura said, her tone concerned, already in disguise mode. Yamato sighed, looked around at the three Chuunin before continuing.

"Nothing's wrong, per se, but, I have important information and warnings that I must depart…About the Water Country" he said. Hinata's fear came rushing back to her, of the rumours she'd heard about Kirigakure. "Now, listen carefully as I tell you this. Sakura, you'll already know some of it, but I'll say it anyway. This information is what we've picked up here and there, with reports and word-of-mouth"

"As you all know, Kirigakure is nicknamed Village of the Bloody Mist, as their Barbaric Genin Selection Exam, left the children as fierce, ruthless Shinobi. This exam was a fight to the death between the children with the other pupils that they had worked beside for years. Now, you really need to know the history of the Country of Water" he said, and sat back against his wood.

"For years, the country had had _endless_ civil wars, ninja against ninja, and fights in the street, violent destruction. Any Ninja with a bloodline technique, like Haku who you encountered Yuuna, were used as tools in these wars to bring countless deaths, because a Kekkei Genkai is an incredibly strong technique. As the wars waged, people began to fear them, and blame those with a Kekkei Genkai for the wars, accusing them of starting it. And long after those wars were settled, every clan in the Mist that held a Kekkei Genkai had to hide the truth of their blood, for fear of being killed" he said, and Hinata frowned.

"Why, I-if the wars happened b-before their t-time, would they still n-need to hide it?" she asked, looking around at them all, from Sakura's sad face, her eyes lost in memories, to Shino's stoic expression, a glare glinting off his glasses.

Yamato sighed, before answering, "Because, Kimi, their Kekkei Genkai is so powerful, that if you or Neji were to go up against the Kekkei Genkai that Haku had, you'd both have to work very hard to keep up, and actually win against it. They simply feared the strong" he said, before glancing at Sakura. Sakura didn't interrupt.

"If they found someone with a bloodline technique they were to be instantly killed" he concluded, and Hinata gasped.

"That's not the worst part, Kimi" Sakura began, "Haku told us, that he had displayed talent, and his father had found out about him and his mother's Kekkei Genkai. His father killed his mother, and when he tried to kill Haku, Haku lost control, and blacked out. When he awoke, Haku found he'd killed his father, and all the other Ninja who had been there. He was left unwanted to wander the streets" Sakura said, sadness evident in her voice.

Yamato nodded, and continued; "So, even after the civil wars, things like this still happened. Later on, Zabuza appeared. He was training to be a Ninja, and he was all set to take the Genin exam, but failed the preliminary, which meant he couldn't become a ninja. After that, he went berserk, and killed 100 of his peers. The tradition was abolished after that incident, and Zabuza was forever called "The Demon of the Mist", and he was instantly given the title of a ninja, and continued to climb the ranks" he said, his face crumpling into disgust, and his tone becoming dark.

Hinata couldn't believe it. Even after he'd killed all his friends, they had _still _let him become one of them?? But, she couldn't think on it longer, because Yamato had continued;

"Now, don't misunderstand, it was perfectly acceptable for a child to kill his friend for the sake of becoming a ninja back then. But, they didn't want a repeat of Zabuza; the number of children becoming a ninja would dramatically decrease if out of 100, only one would become a ninja instead of 50. So, the Mizukage abolished the practise. Zabuza went on to become and ANBU captain"

"That was when Zabuza became a Missing-Nin. He had gathered forces inside of Kirigakure, a mixture of ANBU, Jounin and Chuunin, and planned to overthrow the Mizukage. The reasons are unknown to us, and it would be unwise to ask anyone. Henceforth, Zabuza became a Missing-Nin when his plans failed, and I assume his companions were killed. He was planning on attacking again, and was getting money from everywhere when you met him Yuuna. Zabuza was also one the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen, of whom Hoshigaki Kisame was also a part of, before joining Akatsuki. It's also wise, not to mention him" Yamato said, while idly scratching an itch on his forehead.

"Now, to the point, I wish to warn you of something. But first, does anyone know of the Kaguya clan?" he asked, looking around. Shino nodded, but Hinata and Sakura shook their heads. "I didn't think so. This clan was renowned for their bloodthirsty quality. They were beasts. They'd wander places, with no tactics, or goal, they simply wished to kill, and kill they did. They had a unique Kekkei Genkai, which enabled them to manipulate their bones at will. The Sole survivor of that clan was Kimimaro Kaguya. He was a member of the Sound village, and worked directly under Orochimaru, and was the one to battle first Naruto, then Rock Lee, and Sabaku no Gaara in the mission to save Sasuke" he stated, and waited while that information sunk in.

"His clan was inherently powerful, and won every bloody battle. That was, until they challenged Kirigakure. They wandered into battle, as always, blood thirsty, and with no tactics to speak of. That clan was entirely eradicated, leaving one sole survivor, who was Kimimaro, who would've succeeded in killing Sabaku No Gaara, if he hadn't died from a disease that was eating away at him" he said, and looked at them all. Hinata stared at him, stricken. Defeated Gaara and Lee that easily even when he was seriously ill? And the mist wiped out an entire clan?

"So, I'm warning you of the unimaginable strength of the Water Country. Its military force is not one that would be defeated easily by Konoha or Suna, or even both put together. They are not blood thirsty, or looking for war. If that was so, they'd have already attacked Konoha, or perhaps The Hidden Village of the Cloud. No, they're just a force to be reckoned with, which has a bloody past and brutal Ninja training" he concluded and looked at all three of them carefully, his story finally making its point.

"I'm also warning you of the Amaya Clan. If they have the strength to keep that country in check, then those people in that other room are not to be messed around with" as he said this, his eyes flickered to Hinata, and she felt her face flush with shame at what she'd already said and done to Kosuke. "Those men through there, with their light-hearted attitudes are not their real selves, that attitude is just because they are free, momentarily, from the pressure of clan life in Kirigakure. As we get nearer to the Water Country, _do not_ expect them to be the same people" again, he looked at Hinata.

"They have to be strong in their country, and being happy is not something that they will allow themselves. Now, I'm sure you're aware of Kosuke's temper" at this Hinata and Shino nodded, but Sakura seemed unaware of Kosuke's other side.

"Yes, well couple that temper with Jounin class skills and a killer intent, and you have one dangerous man. Whatever experience you've had with him so far, you can forget it. Any preconception you have of him must be forgotten, and you are to form new judgements, of them both. They are ruthless warriors once we cross that border, and don't forget it" he finished, and looked around at them. They stayed silent, thinking over everything they've been told.

Yamato's wooden jutsu slowly retracted, with small creaks, and the occasional crack of the wood stretching. They were once again in the girl's room, and the chill stole their heat away, and extinguished their candle.

Hinata shivered. Her little courage was quickly fading, and a niggling thought appeared in the back of her mind.

"Why d-do they n-need us then?" she asked in a whisper. Yamato looked at her, and gave a pained expression.

"The threat is within their own country, so alerting their own ninja of a danger will only lead to a full blown civil war again. And that isn't where the Water Country wants to go. So, instead, they have bodyguards secretly placed. And if we die and they catch the perpetrators, they our lives were a distraction to catch the enemy, and then no one need ever know. But if we die, and they go uncaught, they can just say we were Konoha spies, and that their own enemies did a good job, and they'd still have a clearer idea of who to look for" he paused, his eyes casting down to the floor.

"It's a win-win situation for them, and our sacrifice for the police force of Kirigakure will mean nothing. It'll ensure, however, that Konoha is forever on good terms with the sheer strength of the Water Country's Military" he finished, and stood, grabbing the candle. Yamato seemed unable to speak any longer, or perhaps he didn't want to. Shino and Yamato left the room silently.

Hinata heard Sakura release the breath she had been holding and mumble something about going back to bed. Hinata crawled into bed, but couldn't sleep, and after she heard Sakura's steady breathing, she slipped out of bed, and onto the balcony.

Once in the cool night air, with the sound of the river, and the faint smell of Gun powder and food from the festival, she felt her heart rate slow, and her insides unclench. She took a deep breath, and reached back, untangling her hair from the viciously tight plait Sakura had put in. Her long silky hair tumbled out of its binding, and was caught in a gust of wind, that made it flow, and the breeze caught the hem of the nightie Hinata wore for bed in the summer, when the nights were warm and stifling.

"Yamato is a wise man" sounded a cool, but hard voice from behind her. Hinata nearly died of fright, her heart thundered away in her chest, and she drew her arms in around her, as she turned to see Kosuke sat idly on the railings around her Balcony.

She began to panic, wondering if he had heard what Yamato had said; well, he obviously had. Kosuke was just sat, staring out across the town, his face relaxed, but his eyes hard. He took a deep intake of breath, and turned his steely gaze on her. She felt the blood rush to her face, and she gripped the railing in front of her with fear, images and pictures of carnage rushing in front of her eyes.

But, as her gaze connected with Kosuke's and she suddenly remembered the previous night. He'd smiled, and laughed, and had been easy with her, expressed his dislike for being treated the way he did back home, and his support for her. But she also remembered the anger, and his fierce expression, and that coupled with Yamato's warnings, forced her to asses his personality again.

"You don't have to be afraid of me Hinata-san, I won't hurt you without reason" he said, and her mind began to list the reasons of why he would want to hurt her. Her mouth had stopped working, she could only stare at him, and she could see his annoyance beginning to build.

"Will you stop staring? Its getting annoying!" he said angrily, but with a hushed voice, and fluidly left the railing and was stood about 3 feet in front of her in the blink of and eye. Hinata merely stood looking at him, before forcing herself to slowly lower her eyes to the floor. She let go of the railing, and clamped her hands together, her breathing erratic and her heart beating fast.

Kosuke let out a small tut, as he watched the pathetic woman. Him and his father had heard every word, and had decided that Yamato had had every right to say that. They were not offended by his cautious attitude, but this girl was cowering in fear, like he would strike her down for simply being involved in the conversation. He gave out and exasperated sigh, and pinched the bridge of his nose, placing this other hand on his hip.

"No, Hinata-san, I'm sorry, I mean, you can stare...if you want, I really don't mind! I…" he ground to a halt, as her head shot up to look at him, her now Icy blue eyes filled with confusion as well as fear. "I mean, we're a freaking team, if we can't trust each other, who the hell can we trust?" he said, hoping she would stop being so afraid. He didn't want the people who were charged to protect his life to be afraid of him. Although, he still wasn't convinced at their strength.

"K-K-Kimi…" Hinata finally stuttered out. Kosuke lowered his hand in surprise; this wasn't exactly the response he'd hoped for. "My n-name is K-Kimi…" she said again, her breathing becoming normal, as she recognised the Kosuke from the clearing, who smiled at the stars while thinking of his brother. He blinked, and then smirked, before shaking his head.

"She Who is Without Equal (A/N; the meaning of Kimi), fits you perfectly, Kimi-san" he said, and turned away from her, muttering under his breath, before easily leaping to the next balcony. She watched him go, as he jumped with minimal effort, and tried to gauge his ability. But, a single jump doesn't tell you a lot.

Hinata stayed glued to the spot as he disappeared silently into his room, before shakily making her way into her own room. Once inside, she leaned against a wall, and slid down it, having a mild heart attack. _Good lord, I can't believe that just happened! I can't believe he heard everything we said! Oh no, they're probably going to hate us after this!! _Hinata thought to herself, as she picked herself up, to collapse into bed.

Hinata was awakened the next morning by Sakura throwing things at her, shouting merrily for her to get up. Obviously, Sakura wasn't so fazed by prophecies of Doom. Hinata slowly dragged herself out of bed, and into the shower.

As she returned, a hyperactive Sakura had packed all of their things away, made their beds, prepared breakfast and was ordering Hinata to let her plait her hair again. Or maybe Sakura reacted to Prophecy's of Doom by doing things?

Sakura and Hinata met the rest of the Team outside the hotel, Sakura saying a cheery good morning to everyone, but only getting a cheery response from Asa-san. After that, the conversation went down hill.

They were walking in a field, and Hinata was enjoying the freedom. Her head hurt where Sakura had almost pulled her hair out getting the plait tight, but it stayed nicely. She shifted her bag higher up on her shoulders, and adjust the straps, before activating her Byakugan, and searching the area momentarily. She had taken to doing this every now and again, but only when she was sure she felt no presence, and Shino had given her the all clear. She merely wanted to check the status further afield, for waiting ninja, or further back, for anyone following them. So far during the journey, no one had challenged them. As she was doing this, she listened idly to conversation.

Sakura and Shino were deep in conversation about bugs being used in medicine, and Shino was telling Sakura how well a bug could extract poison very easily from the blood. Kosuke and his father were talking about someone called Tsuyu, and Yamato was walking beside her.

Just then, Asa suddenly turned to Yamato, and stated;

"So, Yamato, how did it go last night, did you manage to scare your team half to death with scary prophecies of Doom?" he asked cheerily, and Hinata realised it was spooky that he'd used the same phrase that she had. His challenge to Yamato, however, came as no surprise. She deactivated her Byakugan for a second, to watch the various facial expressions.

Yamato looked positively alarmed, for a split second, before he gave a small smile.

"You're not angry with our, frank, rudeness? I realised late last night after I gave the, er, "prophecy" that I had forgotten to warn you about my foresight abilities" he said coolly, and then smiled as Asa shook his head, and just shrugged.

"You have a right to be cautious" he stated simply

"Wait, scared half to death? My team? No way" Yamato said proudly. Hinata however, flushed a dark red colour, catching Kosuke's amused gaze. She quickly turned her Byakugan back on, and zoomed in randomly on a forest, not expecting to see anything. What she _did_ happen to see, however, made her stop in disgust.

Everyone was instantly alert when Hinata had stopped walking, and zoomed in on the horrible scene. She gasped, and shut her eyes, causing Sakura to go quickly to her side, demanding to know what she saw.

"I-I-In the f-forest, a-a g-gang, a-a-and, a w-woman, a-and a y-young girl!" she stuttered out, almost sobbing. Everyone instantly knew what she was saying. The towns around here were rough. And it was not uncommon for a woman to be attacked by gangs of men.

Yamato took hold of Hinata's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Is there anyone one else around who might see us?" he asked calmly. Hinata quickly checked, avoiding looking at the morbid scene ahead, before shaking her head. "Good, now let's go" he said, and they all took off running towards the forest, and in aide of the women.

As they neared, Kosuke, who was leading the group, made a hand signal for the rest of them to hold back, and quickly dropped his bag, and disappeared altogether. The rest continued running, Asa quickly scooping Kosuke's abandoned bag, towards the screams and jeers, and stopped on the edge of the clearing. What they saw made Hinata's stomach turn.

A group of ten men, and a woman about 25, and a young girl, only 12 or so, were being brutally beaten and raped. Their blood splattered the ground, and the men, each carrying a weapon, be it a chain, or a stick, laughed, and jeered loudly at the women's feeble attempts to resist, get away, or scream. Their weapons were covered in blood. Hinata heard Asa mutter "bastards…" beside her.

Kosuke suddenly reappeared in the thick of the group. His eyes were closed, his face stoic, his hand gripped the hilt of a sword, and he had an ANBU mask, featuring an owl, but it was pushed to the side and out of the way of his face.

The men's cries and jeers suddenly stopped, and there was dead silence in the clearing, apart from the women's pitiful crying. Kosuke's eyes slowly slid open, and his face twisted into a fierce glare as he literally _growled_ at the men. The gang was frozen, but they regained sense, and tried to escape. Kosuke let out a bone-chilling war cry, and disappeared for a second then reappeared back where he was, his sword in his hand, and stained in fresh blood.

He lifted the sword, and flicked it down to the ground, causing an arc of blood to fly through the air, before replacing it back in its sheath. The men, who had stopped in their escape, suddenly has gaping wounds, and all at once they fell, blood spurting from them, as they all landed on the floor in unison with a dull _thud._

Sakura was the first to react; she dashed out to help the women, easily throwing the bodies of the men aside. Kosuke handed her his mask, which she quickly strapped to her face, to hide her identity. She easily healed the naked bodies of the women, and Hinata hurriedly shrugged off her pack, grabbing some clothes and appeared behind Kosuke in the blink of an eye.

His bulk easily hid her petit form, as her turned to face her, and took the clothes she handed to him for the women, as their own clothes were torn, filthy, and stained in blood. Once the women were healed, and everyone else was hidden, Kosuke and Asa proceeded to ask them questions. This time, Asa was wearing the mask, which he removed half way though, so the women thought he was the one to heal them.

The rest of the team and Hinata were hidden in the undergrowth, and she shifted slyly towards Shino, and then gripped his arm for support. She'd seen some terrible things, but, this was by far one of the worst. This made her sick to the stomach, leaving her shaky and uneasy, and Kosuke's war cry still resounding in her mind. She always hated seeing people hurt in front of her.

She realised now the strength of Kosuke, and that his ANBU status, made him stronger that Neji, possibly even stronger than Yamato, Kurenai or Kakashi. And Asa was his father; _he _probably taught _Kosuke_ how to fight. Words from the previous night suddenly ran through her mind; the words of Asa from the restaurant.

_"Whatever _you_ do in Konoha to get information out of spies, is probably what our guards do to pass the time...You girls will be raped as soon as they look at you…" _she just couldn't comprehend what evil people would do as soon as they were _allowed_ to do it.

She watched as Asa and Kosuke came over to them, both girls were unconscious. "We need to make a detour" Asa said, his voice sombre. It was odd to hear him sound so sad. Yamato nodded in understanding, and no one raised any objections. After they'd visited the girl's hometown, they'd arrive at the port to take them to the Water Country, where even more terrifying things were said to await.

**Well, Another chapter down! And THANKYOU VERY MUCH TOO; WINTER MISSION! Lol, thankyou for reviewing Chapter 3, I appreciate it! And, all shall be revealed. This, I can now reveal, is kinda like a prologue story, to the original idea I had for this. But, I made up and entire story for before hand, so, I decided to make it a rea****lity! I've got 8 chapters drafted out, and they just need refining! So, yeah, keep reviewing!**

**Goodbye too Winter Mission.**

**Ilse.**


	5. The Strength of Team Yamato

Disclaimer: me don't own, yarp

**Disclaimer: me don't own, yarp? **

**A/N: **This is coz I can, and I wanted for Hinata to get an ego boost. FYI, Kosuke is really a very bigheaded person, and being beaten is a huge blow to his confidence! I'll be back at school on Monday 8th, but, I've got till chapter 8 in rough, so, I should be able to keep it to a weekly thing.

**Chapter 5:**** The Strength of Team Yamato. **

Hinata still felt sick, even after she had watched Kosuke deliver the girls at home safely, wearing his owl mask, and they'd happily gone inside, even after offering him fish and food. He declined politely.

Her head was throbbing, and she felt like she had a permanent blush. She wondered if she was falling ill. She was afraid to activate her Byakugan again, in case she saw something else horrific.

They entered the woods again, and were walking in the rough formation they had developed. Hinata and Sakura walked side by side, Hinata being the eyes of everyone and Sakura being the medic, they needed to be protected. Kosuke was in front, Yamato was to the left, Asa was to the right, and Shino was at the rear, acting as close range scout when Hinata's Byakugan was deactivated.

Just then, Kosuke looked over his shoulder at Hinata questioningly, wondering why she hadn't used the Byakugan. She blushed, and quickly activated it not wanting to look weak, stretching her vision out for about a mile.

She suddenly had the overpowering urge to throw up; she felt her balance, which was usually very good, give out. She stumbled forward, clutching at her stomach, her outstretched hand finding fabric, which she quickly grasped dragging herself up, to avoid falling.

"Hinata!" called Sakura in a shocked voice, and Hinata felt someone grab her, her knees gave out as her stomach emptied itself over the forest floor, and her vision faded. She blacked out.

--

Hinata had a strange dream. This was something she hadn't remembered in a long time. Hinata was young again, maybe only 3. Her mother, she had fallen dreadfully ill, and she couldn't sleep, not without her mother's comforting scent.

Not without the lullaby which she was quickly forgetting. But, she felt quite happy. Mummy would _always_ get better. She'd met Neji, and he had said she was cute, and she was happy. She hoped they would be friends.

That was when a man suddenly appeared, a monster! She cried out for her mother, but her cry was quickly hushed by this man, as he forced a rough, disgusting smelling hand over her face. He then scooped her up, and fled into the night. They were travelling fast, the wind made her eyes sting. She bit the hand that bound her, and it jerked away, the man's rumbling voice cursing. Hinata then let out a high pitched shrill scream for her father that reverberated around the Hyuuga compound.

The men swore, and hit Hinata. She whimpered in pain, crying quietly. Suddenly she heard a deep snarl, and looked behind her, as the man sped up. It was her father, and he was coming to save her! His face was twisted with rage, as he pulled out 4 Kunai, and threw them with all his anger.

The man cried out in pain, and stumbled, before throwing Hinata away without any care. Her father cried out in surprise, and sped up, catching Hinata at the last second. He placed her down gently, and stood, and took down the man easily killing him.

Hiashi stood up slowly, his clothes stained with the man's blood. He walked back to Hinata, and gently picked her up, and cooed her until she calmed down and stopped sobbing. He gently stroked her cheek where a bruise was blooming, and brought her back inside.

--

Her dream was a strange one; she wondered why she had remembered that dream. She felt herself lifting through the stages of consciousness, and began to feel again the things around her. A cool wash of relief was tricking down her, from her forehead and down her spine, and through her tightly closed eyes, she could see an unnatural green light. Suddenly, it disappeared, and she got the sensation of movement.

Her hands twitched, and Hinata realised fearfully that her hands were bound in cloth, and someone had an impossibly tight grip on the underside of her kneecaps. Someone was giving her a piggy back, but why would they bind her hands if they were friends?

She began to panic, her dream suddenly flooding into her mind, as whoever was carrying her jumped high up, and was racing through the trees. She began to breathe heavily, her head spinning. She suddenly jerked back with a shrill shriek, and placed her feet on her carrier's hips and pushed back pulling the fabric that bound her hands together to the neck of whoever was carrying her.

She heard a surprised gasp and felt strong hands grasp her's, and pushed the fabric away. But, the person who was carrying her had already lost his footing, and his momentum, caused him to trip, and smash into a tree branch, throwing Hinata off and towards the ground.

"Hinata, no!" she heard Shino shout out, and realised too late that he was the one who was carrying her. She reached out and attempted to grab a branch but, missed completely, and continued to fall to the floor, emitting a small shout.

She watched in horror as the ground rushed to her, and she was falling fast to the floor, in the wrong position to land nicely. Suddenly, something crashed into her from the side, knocking the wind out of her with a small "oof". She scrunched her eyes shut, and latched onto the fabric that encircled her. She was abruptly shaken as the body holding her landed heavily on the floor, skidding a few metres before stopping.

Kosuke had jumped as he heard Hinata's scream, turning mid run to watch her completely drag Shino over backwards, so they both went flying into a branch, causing Hinata to flip over the branch, and begin to fall head first to the floor, while trying to grab a branch, but missing by at least 3 feet. He then found himself flying through the air and he smashed into her mid air, skidding to a halt on the forest floor.

He watched her, looking like she was in pain, and he stood carefully, still holding her. He turned and looked at his father confused. He'd moved mostly by instinct, he's had to catch people like that many times before, but he hadn't expected her to react to Shino so violently, and with such force. Sakura dropped down beside him, touching her hand to Hinata's head, briefly checking her over, before jumping up into the canopy to Shino.

Kosuke then threw Hinata's pack, which he had been carrying since Hinata herself had collapsed, at Asa, and jumped up after her, and stared down at Hinata, who seemed to be hyperventilating; her face was reddening and was covered in a film of sweat. He frowned, and looked over to Sakura, who was healing something in Shino's chest, maybe a broken rib.

"err, Yuuna-san…Sakura?" he asked unsure of what to do. He'd never before had to deal with sick people. And Hinata was making him uncomfortable with her…_sickness_. "One second, Amaya-san! I'm _trying_ to heal multiple broken and fractured ribs from Shino's fall!" she said irritably, worry lining her face. Kosuke looked at Hinata again, and saw she was awake.

"Ah, Hina-er, Kimi-san…" he said, before she threw herself out of his grip. He didn't expect her to do _that_ either. He supposed she was still wary of him. That made him scowl at the though, at the thought she could bear-

His thoughts stopped as she jumped to Shino's branch, which he noticed she barely managed to land on.

"Shino! Shino, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-I thought- I just!-…" she said, before placing her hand over her mouth, and jumped down swiftly from the tree to be sick on the floor. He pulled a face, and Asa and Yamato landed silently on either side of him.

Kosuke shook his head, and turned to Yamato. "What's happened to that girl? Why, is she…like that?" he asked, a frown evident as he watched the girl look mortified at Sakura and Shino. Yamato sighed, and turned to him.

"Imagine your father" he said, nodding at Asa, "Had raised you, telling you that you were weak, that you had no chance, that he much preferred another relative or sibling than you, and told your Sensei when you were a Genin that he didn't care if you died or got injured on a mission, and he'd much rather you weren't his child, and weren't alive to bring shame upon your clan. _Every Single Day._" he concluded, looking sadly at Hinata.

"Hinata's had no one. Her mother's dead, her father is obsessed with making her 5 year old sister stronger, and her cousin from the branch family hated her, because her uncle gave up his life in place of her father, because they were twins. You wanna know why?" Yamato said, glancing at a shocked Kosuke and Asa. They dumbly nodded.

"Because, when Hinata was young, there was unrest between Konoha and the Village of Lightning. When they had _just_ signed a peace agreement, a ninja from the lightning Kidnapped Hinata to find the secrets of the Byakugan, since she was a main house member. Hiashi killed the man, and the Lightning country demanded they be given the body of Hiashi. So, in his place, his twin brother Hizashi was given. And since he was branch member, they still protected the secret. Every branch member is given a Cursed Seal when they reach 4 years old. Branch member's cursed seal forces their Byakugan to completely be destroyed after they've died, thus preserving the secret. In fact, the cursed seal also gives _any_ house member power to instantly kill any branch member with the cursed seal, so, it ensures that they never disobey" he said, almost as if pondering the fact.

Kosuke looked at Hinata, and instantly understood her position. He realised she was _far far_ too timid to be a ninja, so given such power over her cousin, who was bitter over the fact his father had died instead, had made them both very uncomfortable.

And everything Yamato had said about how her own father had treated her. His father wasn't exactly the world's best supporter, but, he'd never said anything like that. Kosuke growled softly, as he tried to imagine his father saying that to Tsuyu. He'd beat the crap out of his father himself if he ever said anything like that.

"That would fit in well in the mist…" he said quietly, and watched as Sakura was trying to convince Hinata to be carried. Sakura seemed to think a bit of food poisoning had gotten into her, but, since Shino was in no fit state to command his bugs around, their only option was to continue on to the next town, or the Mist, to get any sort of antidote.

Kosuke sighed heavily, and turned to his father, holding his hand out in expectation. Asa quickly shrugged off the two lightweight bags on his bag, and handed them to Kosuke, and then went to retrieve Shino's bag. Kosuke handed Shino the lightest of the packs, and gave Hinata the slightly heavier one, before shouldering Hinata's bag.

Hinata's icy blue eyes turned up to them, shining with unshed tears. "K-k-Kosuke, I-I c-can do it, b-but, i-" she tried to explain. Kosuke shook his head.

"Kimi, be quiet. You've got food poisoning and that's the end of it. What happened to your brother was a complete _accident_. Everyone fully understands that people make mistakes. Do not be ashamed, and do not blame yourself. Now get up, and let someone carry you" he said, and held a hand out to her.

Hinata looked up to Kosuke, his hard eyes looking down at her. She felt the urge to activate her Byakugan so she could tell what he was really thinking, but, she knew that was very rude. She took hold of his hand, and immediately regretted it. He pulled her up, and off her feet, catching her easily, and jumping off onto a different branch, looking back at everyone.

"Come on then" he said lightly, completely ignoring Hinata's mortified stutters. Sakura helped Shino stand, and everyone shifted to get ready, and pushed off, heading to the coast at a faster rate than expected. Hinata, embarrassingly enough, fell asleep easily in Kosuke's firm grip, and dreamt of Neji.

--

They stopped for the night, in a clearing. They had lost a lot of time, and hadn't managed to make it to the dock to make the last boat to the Mist. They travelled back, deep into a forest, where they checked the area thoroughly, before setting up camp in clearing in amongst the very dense forest. Here is where Hinata finally awoke, after sleeping all day, feverish, and insists she feels fine before running off to a nearby river. Hinata stumbled down to the water.

_Water. _Now there's something she likes. She loved training in waterfalls with water, because finally mastering her Eight Trigrams Protection Technique, has been the happiest day of her life. She looked around, briefly with Byakugan. Everyone was still at camp, Sakura was stood, and was punching in the air, her face bore a determined look, while Kosuke was searching in the bushes for something. When he found it, Hinata saw they were berries, which he tossed back to Sakura.

Hinata pulled out of Byakugan, before stripping off her clothing, and wading into the river, submersing, and rubbing herself down. She felt the extreme heat of her body cool off, and she pulled her hair out the plait, taking all the dirt out of it. She sighed, and turned into the current, her hair flowing out behind her on the surface as it was caught by the river. She swam around for a bit, loving the freedom of swimming. She then rested her arms and head on the surface using her chakra, and gazed up at the passing wildlife, trees, and the setting sun beginning to reveal stars.

She sighed, closing her eyes and listened. And if, at that moment, she hadn't begun listening, she wouldn't have heard the tiniest fraction of a footstep, about 5 metres behind the tree line. Hinata, startled by the sudden presence, and her clothes too far away to reach without loosing _all_ her dignity, reacted almost logically. She grabbed her hair, and pulled it round her, and went further towards the little beach bit as she felt the presence come closer.

"Stop!" she suddenly shouted out loud, her Byakugan activating, looking at the intruder. Ah. Who else _would_ it be? "Kosuke-san! What are y-you doing?" Hinata demanded, and she could literally feel his confusion.

"Err, I'm coming to check whether or not you're alive since you've been gone so long. And well done for realising I was there without the Byakugan, by the way" he said, and she saw him turn around and face away from her.

"That's b-better…" she mumbled, and stepped out, wiping excess water off her deathly pale skin, and shoving clothes over herself.

"I'm decent…" Hinata said absently wringing out her hair.

She heard Kosuke scoff, as he appeared, in the middle of stripping off his shirt.

"Wh-wh-what are y-you d-doing, K-K-Kosuke-san!?" Hinata asked in alarm, a blush appearing on her face, he looked at her in a patronising way. "I'm going to wash sweat off of myself?" he suggested, and bent down next to the river, and soaked himself. Hinata scowled at his sarcastic response, and picked up the rest of her clothes, and put them to the side, and sat down at the tree line.

After Kosuke had dunked his head in the water, he was surprised Hinata was waiting for him. He almost made a sarcastic remark about it, but decided against it. He leaned further out, and knelt on the water, creating a few hand signs, muttering under his breath. The water rose fluidly up, and proceeded to soak his chest and back. He let out a huge sigh of relief, and stretched out all his muscles, trying to work out the knots. He suddenly felt Hinata's chakra, and he turned quickly to look at her. But she merely was using her Byakugan. He could still not get used to those freaky veins around her eyes. He pulled a face, and ran a hand through his hair. He also still wasn't convinced that Hinata was very strong.

"Say, Kimi-san, what abilities do you have with the Byakugan?" he asked, and Hinata's gaze turned to him full force. He suddenly felt like he had x-ray vision on him, and like she was looking into his very soul. He saw Hinata nod in understanding, like he'd told her something, and she stood up, and moved out onto the water.

"Pick up a few stones, K-Kosuke-san, and t-try your hardest to h-hit me with the s-stones only, I think we'll start there first…" she said, and watched as he frowned, and picked up about 10 stones, pocketing them. She concentrated for a moment, concentrating full 360 degrees, and positioned her hands so the palms could be seen, one outstretched, and one by her waist, and bent over slightly. Kosuke looked unsure, but he disappeared and reappeared somewhere behind her, throwing the stone with all his might. Hinata _easily_ blocked it, and pfft-ed at him.

"Come on, K-Kosuke-san, at least take this a little bit seriously" she said, and he smirked and prepared the rest of the stones. He disappeared, and threw 5 stones almost simultaneously from different directions. This was still very easily for Hinata. Kosuke stopped, looked at her for a few seconds, and made the mistake of connecting eyes with her. She knew he was going to come at her in Taijutsu, because of the way his muscles tensed. She immediately changed to Eight Trigrams Heavenly 64 Palm technique. She didn't really want to use Gentle Fist, because that would damage his internal organs, and Sakura already had enough to deal with.

He pulled back his right arm, but she already _knew _that punch was a feint, and he'd come at her with his right leg. She ducked under his fist, and grabbed his leg, shouting,

"Eight Trigrams 64 Palm Technique! 2 hits!" and hit him twice. Kosuke looked surprised, but continued to try and hit her, often disappearing, and trying to get her from behind. "4 Hits! 8 Hits! 16 Hits! 34 Hits!" she jumped backwards, the sweat dripping off of her, Kosuke left drained, sinking into the river below him steadily, unable to fully hold himself on the water. She threw her arm back, curled in her thumb and 3rd and 4th finger in. "64 Hits!" she eventually shouted, and disappeared, appearing right in front of him, her arms in a blur as she hit him repeatedly 64 times in the space of 2 seconds. Her last hit was one on his chest, which sent him flying backwards, and he disappeared into the river.

Hinata stopped, getting her breath back, before jumping forward and grabbed him, dragging him out of the water, he coughed, and did an attempted doggy-paddle. "Kosuke-san, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to try and drown you, do you have enough energy to swim?" she asked, as she reached down and splashed her face absently.

"_yes, thank you" _he said scathingly, and climbed onto the shore. Hinata was suddenly aware that they had had an audience. Kosuke looked at his father with fire in his eyes, and Asa looked down at him with pity. Sakura was laughing her head off, and Shino was smirking. Yamato was just shaking his head, saying something along the lines of "supposed to be ill".

Kosuke sighed, and made a few hand signs and said something, and ran a hand down his clothes. Then nothing visibly happened, he put his hands together, like you did when concentrating on Chakra. He stopped, and looked at Hinata in horror. Hinata shrugged, "It'll wear off by the morning, but you may feel a bit funny for a while. And you definitely wont be able to use your Chakra" she said, and realised in astonishment she'd stopped stuttering. She'd often have a lessened stutter when she won a fight, but, it was rare for it to stop altogether. Her body rushed with pride, as she stood straight upright, and looked down at Kosuke, who was sat exhausted on the floor.

"Is there no other way to get it working before hand?" he asked almost desperately.

"Yes, Yuuna might be able to unblock the Chakra Holes, but, there are, erm… 361 throughout the entire body, and I've randomly blocked about 162, so your Chakra flow is nil to anywhere that's useful. And even then, that's still a _might_ since, the Chakra Holes are tiny, borderline Microscopic, so it'll be hard to unblock them" Kosuke's face darkened, and he stood, albeit shakily, and turned to her threateningly. But, Hinata was unafraid.

"Unless, Kosuke-san, you'd prefer I used my Gentle Fist Taijutsu? I could force my Chakra into the chakra highway around your heart and organs make you have a heart attack, a quick death, or perhaps damage your stomach's lining so your stomach acid eats away at your insides, a slightly quicker way of death. OR perhaps I should just shut down all of your organs all together, so you can die, painfully, in a mess of your own jellified internal organs, but somehow still alive even after all that trauma. OR" she said, holding up a finger, to the almost scared looking Kosuke.

"Perhaps I should use my very own technique. Which includes sending out chakra blades at twice the speed that I attacked you with 64 Hits, and which can cut down a swarm of 1000 insects? I should know. My teammate _is_ a bug expert after all" she said, and began basking in the glory that is _Hinata_. She felt proud of herself, and giggled at the way Kosuke was looking at her.

He didn't get angry at her again. She caught him later asking Yamato slyly whether or not she could _actually_ do that. He nodded seriously, and turned to him saying, "all Hyuuga can do Gentle First style, that's the organ melting stuff, and the Eight Trigrams, the Chakra hole blocker one, but they can't do the Protecting Eight Trigrams, and chakra shoot-y one. Oh, and yeah, they have complete 360 degree vision, and have a tendencies to read people's minds, and know exactly what you're going to do next" Yamato said casually, which caused Kosuke to pale, and look at the others.

"What about the other two?" he asked, looking at the other two team mates from Team Yamato. Yamato looked at them briefly, and chuckled.

"Never, _ever_ be on the receiving end of a blow from Yuuna if she's pissed off, and be careful or her, there's damage that can be done using Medical Jutsu, as well as healing. And Shino? He's just creepy. He knows everything, and has hundreds of millions of bugs living inside him" at this Kosuke's eyes widened, and he very nearly threw up. "His bugs are not to be trifled with" Yamato said, grinning. Kosuke then looked at Yamato.

"What about you?" he asked, looking at him warily.

"Be careful of the plants, they're more dangerous than they lead you to believe" he said cryptically, and stood to go into his tent, "Well, I bid you goodnight" he said shortly. Sakura told Shino to go to bed also, before retiring herself. Hinata, who had far too much adrenaline in her blood to sleep, was sat idly eating some bread, pulling little chunks off and popping them in her mouth, staring into the fire.

She could feel Kosuke's angry stare, but, for once in her life, she frankly _didn't care. _She was sick and tired of being timid, and scared of him, and she was furious at herself for getting Shino injured, and using that anger to put Kosuke firmly into place, made her self-confidence flare like wild fire. Today, Hinata wins.

**Well, that's that, chapter 5, **_**done and dusted**_**, and polished, and everything! I just realised, that, the first four chapters, are like, just about 16,000 words in total! That's...**_**weird**_**, and, that's a LOT of words! I try to keep the chapters at an average length. About 7-8 pages in a word processor, font size ten, and an average of 3900-4100 words per chapter. Of course, I DO put in a lot of spaces, so its MUCH easier to read when its uploaded. But yeah. **

**Goodbye to**

**Ilse. **


	6. The Ship of The Mist

Chapter 6; The Ship of the Mist

**Disclaimer!: **I do not own Narutoooooo )

Margh, I haven't exactly been up to scratch on the releasing-ness, but, everything's a going to heat up pretty soon, I guess, all the boring stuff is going to be over, then its exciting, then it's a bit boring, then it's exciting for ages, then the story ends, THEN! It's the sequel. The sequel is the ORIGINAL idea that I had, but, I was all like, "Damn, I CAN'T do this story unless I have a prequel!" so, I went about creating this story! Anyway, enjoy!

**Chapter 6; The Ship of the Mist**

Kosuke watched her with a dark look, desperately wanting to get angry with her, and blame her. But, it wasn't exactly _her_ fault. Yes, she'd humiliated him in front of his father, who at this moment was staring into space in contemplation, which couldn't be good, but, she was simply stronger than him at Taijutsu. And the way she blocked the Stones with little effort, he knew that knew that she'd have no difficulty fighting him while he was wielding a sword.

They were still sat round the fire after everyone else had long gone to bed. Hinata was just radiating happiness, and she didn't seem in the least bit phased by his anger. He looked at her, and saw a different woman from the one he had so easily intimidated at Bon Odori.

He didn't like it. He realised he didn't like the fact that she wasn't intimidated by him, more than the fact that she had beaten him. Defeat he could handle, his dad whooped his ass _all_ the time, but he couldn't handle the loss of her fear, it's like someone's ripped out a chunk of his pride.

He glared at the girl again, and felt dislike for her rise in his chest, as she radiated all the happiness she could posses. She was _soo_ happy, he felt offended. He scoffed to himself, and turned to talk with his Father. But of course, his father was 'deep in thought'. So, Kosuke, becoming irritated by the lack of response, punched his father's arm. And of course, one punch was all it took.

Asa took the punch, but whipped round, and hit Kosuke in the chest, where he knew a large collection of small bruises were hidden from when Hinata had attack. Kosuke was flung backwards, and lacked the energy to get up.

"Okay, I'm done" Asa announced in, what Kosuke thought, was an _overly cheerful_ tone, which was merrily met by Hinata's smooth, sweet happy voice, that made Kosuke's blood boil. He just couldn't believe he'd carried this intolerable woman all day, and he hadn't killed her by now on this short journey.

"So, Kimi-san, that was impressive moves back there" Asa said cheerfully, "you must teach me sometime" he said, but Hinata smiled and shook her head.

"It's impossible from someone outside my clan to learn that technique, because you actually _need_ the Byakugan, no exceptions. The Chakra holes are so small, that when hitting them, you _have to hit it_, or the jutsu fails, that's why we were able to develop it, because we can see the holes, and the flow of Chakra around a person's body, so we know _which_ holes to block" she explained patiently, while chewing some bread that she had at hand.

Kosuke sat up slowly, and picked up his water bottle, taking a drink, still scowling into space.

"Oh, for goodness sake, Kosuke, _get over it!_" Kosuke looked up in surprise as his father had actually just said that. He shook his head, and said, rather childishly,

"Get over what?" then he sat sulking, and staring into the fire.

"Get over the fact that you've been beaten" Asa snorted, but Hinata interrupted.

"That's not it" she said, and Kosuke looked up at her surprised, and straight into the white eyes of an activated Byakugan. Once again, that x-ray vision look washed over him, and he suddenly remembered the "mind reading" thing, and quickly looked away. Hinata sighed, and pulled her legs up to her chest, thinking deeply.

Kosuke began to worry, has she really read his mind? He suddenly felt very ashamed of his thoughts, but suddenly angry at her invasion of his privacy.

"I am s-scared" Hinata said quietly, and Kosuke's heart raced at the truth her ability, but, his face burned in shame. Asa stared up into the sky unphased.

"I'm scared of the Mist's people, its past, and everything that's unknown to me. I'm scared that the injury I caused Shino will make him unable to do the mission. Sakura will heal him into perfect condition, but what about relapse? I'm scared of boats, although I love water. I'm scared of my father, although I want to prove myself to him. I'm scared for Hanabi, and how she'll cope without me." She shifted, and then continued.

"I'm scared for Kiba, and what condition _he's_ in. I'm scared for Kurenai, and her new baby. I'm scared of you, Kosuke, because you're so powerful, but, I trust you with every fibre in my body that _isn't_ scared, so, I trust that, when I am able to defeat you, _just once_ to make me feel better, and I won't have to worry you'll do anything to me in my sleep or anything. I'm scared of Asa-san, because, being Kosuke's father, superior and Sensei, you're the more powerful one and that's a frightening thought" she said, staring with worried eyes into the fire. Then she suddenly smiled.

"But, I'm so much better here, going to this frightening country, and _facing _my fears. It's making me a stronger, braver person. And the braver I get, the more I trust you, Kosuke, and Asa-san, Yamato, Sakura and the more I am able to become a stronger person. Because, I want to be able to return to the Leaf a new woman, and take _back_ my title as Heiress. I don't even care if I'll be miserable for the rest of my life. I'm doing it to save Hanabi, the most special person to me, from the terrible, Noble, Hyuuga Clan" she said, her voice never wavering, the determination in her eyes only growing with her words.

Kosuke's dislike for her vanished, as he watched her. He scoffed, and grinned as she shot a glare at her. "The Mist isn't_ too _scary y'know. Plus, you people of Konoha are pretty scary yourselves" he said, laughing out loud, and scratching his temple in embarrassment. Hinata felt herself go faint as her reminded her of Naruto. She blushed furiously, and suddenly stood, and excused herself to her tent.

Kosuke watched her confused for a second, before shrugging it off. She was too confusing for him to even bother with.

--

When they set off early in the morning, everyone was in high spirits, Kosuke's Chakra had returned and they arrived at the dock at noon. Hinata forced herself to walk on boldly. She'd been on the sea just once before, and she remembered it was a terrifying experience, they were caught in this storm, and it had killed a cousin of hers. She liked to watch the ocean, but not be subjected to its terrifying strength.

Now, she was forcing herself to walk onto this boat, chakra firmly keeping her feet on the floor, so when the boat rocked gently in the open sea, she didn't shift and inch. She looked around and caught sight of Kosuke and Asa watching her nervously. She remembered, with increasing embarrassment, that she had said that she was afraid of the ocean. Which was perfectly true. But, she wished Kosuke and Asa would stop watching her.

She sat herself down hidden away in a corner at the back of the boat, to watch the land fall away behind them. She suddenly felt very homesick, and wondered if she could See Hanabi with her Byakugan. She really wanted to try, and was on the verge of doing so, before Shino appeared, and sense came flooding back to her. She was just too far away from Konoha to see Hanabi anyway.

"Are you alright, Kimi?" Shino asked blatantly, sitting down next to her. Hinata sighed, and told him a half truth. She didn't like oceans or boats. He seemed very unsurprised at her revelation, but sympathised anyway. It wasn't soon after that Sakura appeared, and sat with them, and warned Hinata not to use chakra on the boat, as there were Ninja's here that Asa was suspicious of.

Hinata felt a small pang of worry if a storm was to kick off, she might be thrown over, but she shook that thought away.

"What're you all doing back here?" Yamato's voice suddenly sounded out, clear and cheerful, and everyone felt happier because of it. "Hope you're not getting into trouble…" he said, and his voice changed into the scariest expression Yamato appeared to posses. Hinata squeaked, but, Yamato soon smiled again, announcing that they would have to stay the night on the boat, so they should find somewhere comfortable to sleep.

That night, a forceful wind blew in, which rocked and tipped the boat, making the sea become angry, and try to swallow them whole. They retreated to the lower decks, as they were little use to the experienced sailors when they were pretending to be normal farmers. Hinata grappled with her fear, wishing that it would be over soon, and that Kosuke or Asa-san wouldn't be hurt.

She sat with Shino again, and took tight hold of him. Shino was always there for her, always supporting her, and telling people that she was strong. She almost wished that Shino was her older brother in real life, it would make her feel a lot better to have him there all the time.

But, he had his own duties to attend to, and his own family, and she saw lots of him on missions. He had been the main factor in her harsh training, and he would always be worried over her, but, when she told him not to go easy on her, he would comply. Hinata knew she was eternally grateful for having a friend like Shino.

The hatch suddenly opened, making Hinata jump in fright, thinking that somehow the wind had torn away the door, but it was just Kosuke and Asa coming down to lower decks. They were both soaking wet, and cold.

"A-are you t-two okay?" Hinata asked worried, and Kosuke looked at her, and grimaced, before doing a few quick hand signs, which made the water on both him and his father evaporate into clouds of steam, which heated the entire cabin.

"Nothing we can't handle, Aoko-san" Asa-san said absent minded-ly, while sitting himself down next to Yamato. Kosuke sat on his own, opposite Hinata, and amused himself by sharpening a beautiful embroidered Knife, which looked delicate, but dangerous.

Hinata was intrigued, and gently prised herself off of Shino's arm to look closer at it.

"It _was_ my mothers, she gave it to me when I became a ninja" he said, holding it up and examining it.

"When w-was th-that?" Hinata asked

"I was 8" he said, making Hinata gasp. This boy was even better that she imagined. Uchiha Itachi had a similar track record to him. Although, she wasn't even sure how old he was now, and Tsunade hadn't given any of them fake ages, so she assumed that she would just say 16.

"how o-old are you n-now?" she asked, looking at the knife, while he ran a smaller knife up and down it.

"15" he said shortly, making Hinata look at him in disbelief.

"No way!" she gasped, and Kosuke stopped sharpening and looked at her for a second, before bursting into laughter. Hinata just scowled; shocked that she had been fooled so easily.

"I'm 17 Kimi-san" he said, laughing to himself, continuing on with his sharpening.

"How about you, _Kimi?_" he continued, and stressed her name to remind her that she was still in character. "I'm 16 _Kosuke"_ she said, and hoped he would get the message that this was the actual truth. He just made an indistinct 'Hn' noise, which made Sakura snort. He glanced at her, raising an eyebrow, while Hinata's hand flew back to Shino's arm to steady herself.

"What?" he asked and she just shook her head.

"You just reminded me of someone…" she said vaguely, staring wistfully up into space. Kosuke shrugged, and put his little knife away, and studied his mother's knife.

"What was your mother's name?" Sakura asked, finally snapping out of her trance.

"Her name _is_ Miyuki, and she's very pregnant with a child my parents' have named Kumo. Not sure about the gender yet" he said, brushing off the fact everyone had assumed that his mother was dead.

"Do you have any other siblings?" Hinata asked, and Kosuke smiled to himself, and gave her a small, secret look. Memory of that night in the clearing rushed back to her, as she remembered him talking about his little brother.

"His name's Tsuyu, he's 5. There's quite a large age gap between us, so, it was strange, I feel more like a second father than an older brother. There's an age gap, because my mother didn't want any more children while the village was in unstable footing. And quite rightly" he said, and smiled to himself at some inside joke.

Hinata smiled as she watched emotions slipping through his face and eyes in a relaxed fashion. She liked it when her friends relaxed like this. She'd seen Neji do it a few times, he'd just sat with her and Hanabi, let his guard down, and just _relaxed_. She thought that every ninja should have a time when they allowed themselves to relax. Asa was watching Kosuke carefully.

Hinata felt herself getting very tired, her eyes were going out of focus, and she could only just see the golden streaks in Kosuke's hair…

Kosuke was examining his knife, thinking fondly of his eccentric mother, when he heard the heavy breathing of someone sleeping. It was only 8pm… He looked up and saw Hinata's calm, vulnerable face, as she latched on for dear life to Shino. He didn't know why she was so scared of the ocean, she seemed so happy in the river, but, that could've been because her feet could touch the floor. He pondered for a while longer, before his father reached over, and took his knife form him. He let go, slightly hesitantly. He really didn't want to loose that knife.

The knife and sword were the sort of, 'trade mark' weapons of Kirigakure, they were their speciality, and when his mother was younger, she may have been just a horse master, but she learned ninja skills later in life, and learned medic jutsu to help his father. That's where he inherited his practically perfect chakra control. Although, he now realised it was _sloppy_ in comparison to that girl, Sakura's, chakra control.

But, he was very protective of it, and only really used it in assassinations, or quiet stealth killing, because, it always sharpened easily, and stayed sharp for a very long time, making killing easy.

He rubbed his eyes briefly, and saw that Sakura was dropping off onto Yamato's shoulder. Well, they were _meant_ to be father and daughter. He guessed they must've been on missions before, or was possibly her sensei when she was a Genin. He turned his attention back to his father, who was just staring at his knife, with a slight smile on his face.

"What?" Kosuke asked in a hushed whisper, noticing Yamato's eyes were closed too.

"I miss your mother, as annoying as that woman is, I _do_ love her, you know…" he said, as if thinking Kosuke didn't know.

"I know father, I miss her too. Although, what she'll do to me coming back a day late, I don't know…" he said wistfully, shifting into a cross legged position, yawning.

"You sleep son, I'm not really sleepy anyway" he said shrugging, still clutching the knife. Kosuke waited for a second, wondering if he was going to give it back, when he didn't, he gave a tiny shrug, before shifting so he was leaning against a wall, next to Hinata's sleeping form. He quickly dropped off, feeling slightly disconcerted at his father's remark.

His father was never one for emotions. Growing up in the Mist had made emotions practically impossible for Ninja. There wasn't _room_ for it. His village's training was _harsh_ yes, but not to a cruel degree, the ninja only progressed slightly faster than Konoha. Instead of 12, they'd graduate at 10, and start at 4 instead of 5. But, they put a lot more emphasis on Chakra control, since extreme control was necessary for manipulating water effectively.

Kosuke quickly fell asleep, memories' of his own training flooding back to him.

--

Hinata awoke long before everyone else was awake, she silently disentangled herself form Shino. She was sure she woke him, but he probably just went back to sleep. She pulled back a bit, and froze when her elbow encountered clothes and flesh. She whipped round, to see Kosuke heave a sigh, and irritably open his eyes to give her a quick glare.

She mouthed her apology, before standing, and making her way tentatively upstairs and onto deck. The sea was perfectly calm, and the sky was a bright blue, as the sun began to rise over in east.

Hinata was forced to stop and stare when confronted with the sight of the ocean. She'd never seen it without it being broken by the appearance of an Island or two, but now, she looked across a vast expanse of unbroken ocean, perfectly flat, and peaceful, the sun dying its waters with reds and yellows and pinks. She gasped, and had to turn her head to see it all.

She turned away from the rising sun, and looked behind her to see a huge mountain to rising starkly out of the sea, its top capped with a blanket of snow. She stared at the sudden contrast from sea to mountain. She looked around, and saw smaller outcrops of rocks, and caves, and she can see an island of trees back the way they had came from.

"Its very dramatic, isn't it?" Hinata turned to see a young sailor boy kneeling on the floor, tying some rope or other.

"yes, its b-beautiful. It's unlike a-anything I've e-every seen!" Hinata said, turning to the sea again.

"The contrast in the Water country, between things, it's just so severe! Did you know they raise horses more tenderly than they raise their own children?" the boy said jokingly, laughing to himself. Hinata cast a surprised glance at him, before looking at the mountain.

"They raise horses? I never knew!" Hinata said, remembering fondly the tall animals she had rarely seen.

"oh yes, strong animals, good for moving around quickly if situations get dire. The Mist like to take precautions, so, they raise horses that aren't spooked easily, and will enter water at will, and not be freaked out by Water jutsu or mist" he stopped, and stood making his way over to her.

"It's a very interesting country, despite its brutal qualities. But, you'll find that sort of stuff in Ninja mostly. It's the ninja that are the bloodthirsty beasts, even in the Amaya clan, but, the people, the normal citizens are just normal people, not unlike the people of Konoha" he said, and turned as they reached a corner on the coast.

Hinata went forward exited to see round the corner, and lay eyes on new land, what she saw shocked her again. There were a few stones at the waters edge to act as a wave breaker, but above that were just miles and miles of rice fields, preparing for the winter annual, so the ridges filled with water were unbroken and flat, except for a few stems poking out every now and again.

She saw the sharp incline of the mountains just suddenly starting, and rising high, at the edges of the rice fields, some shelves were carved into it too. She saw the mountains stop, leaving a very wide valley in the middle, and start again, and encircle the rice fields.

Miles and miles along the coast, where Hinata could just make out a stone bay stretching out into the ocean, which must be port. As they continued on round following the coast, Hinata realised that a large river cut an almost straight line right through the centre of the Rice fields.

It was a wide, deep river, which ran smoothly into the ocean, and in the distance she could make out a city in the beginning of the valley she had seen before, directly in line with the river, which curved off to the left as the rice fields gave way to pastures near the city. The river's source was an impossibly tall waterfall, sprouting from the mountain, very near the walls of the city. The pastures in front of the city held different animals, but Hinata couldn't quite make out what they were.

"Are we going to that port?" asked Hinata, pointing off towards the port, just at the base of the mountains in the distance.

"Nah, we're dropping you lot off here. We'll have to wait till noon though, so the beach appears, since you lot aren't Ninja's, you can't do that whole, walk on water stuff" he said, and he heard shouts from somewhere, and he disappeared. Hinata sighed, and was getting herself ready to take in her surrounding in peace, when she suddenly felt Kosuke appear beside her.

"Look behind you, out towards the ocean" he said, and Hinata sighed, before turning to look out. She gasped, as she saw a huge wall of Mist hanging where before there'd been a clear sunset. The mist wasn't too thick yet, the colours of the sun stained the mist a blood red and yellow.

"The name, Village of the Bloody Mist, wasn't originally from the fighting" Kosuke explained, "the arrival of cold air in the mornings coming in from sea, hitting the warm air travelling out to sea, causes the creation of this mist, which eventually gets dragged inland, and stays there hanging over our land from about 8 in the morning, to midnight. It warms the air up, and the cycle starts all over again" he said, and pointed at the city in the valley. "That's Kirigakure" he said simply, and Hinata stared. Now she took a better look, she could just about see the gates, which resembled Konoha's, with dark red writing on the door. She assumed it would say "Mist".

"That sailor, you shouldn't get too close, they're cowards them, not wanting to be Ninja's, and running off to the sea" he scoffed, scowling at the rising sun as if it offended him.

"How does not wanting to be a Ninja make him a coward" Hinata asked, frowning. "_I _originally wanted to be an embroiderer, but, my father wanted me to work in the fields" she said, and glanced at him. He understood that she was saying that she never wanted to be a Ninja either.

"Because, in our culture, running away from a fight means you're a coward. And running away from all fights, and all danger, makes you a dirty coward" he spat out. Hinata shook her head.

"Is that you talking, or your father? Or your war-proud elders who haven't been in battle in their entire lives? Is it those village advisers, who'd like _everyone_ to be a ninja, so they can be tools for war? Being a sailor, doesn't mean you're a coward. In fact, I find being helpless on a boat, subjected to the absolute fury of the ocean, more terrifying than fighting someone. At least you have a chance to kill that man before he harms you. You can't kill the ocean. If it wants to break this ship, and drown everyone in it, then it will do just that, and there's nothing you can do. I think, being a sailor is more terrifying. You should think about what you say, when you're throwing around such rude accusations, Kosuke. And don't listen to war-mongers so easily, they'll tell you anything to get you to fight" she concluded, staring out to sea, absolutely terrified, not wanting to catch his eye.

He just scoffed, and walked away, muttering to himself. Hinata looked around, to see Asa approach her. "Now, _that_ young lady, took more courage than those tough little sailors need, I tell you that for nothing. You're a strong woman to be able to humble Kosuke like that. And he's growing, not getting angry at you. I thank you for helping my son, grow up, because, he's been a child too long" Asa said, before winking at her, and retreating. Hinata sighed. She'd like to be alone now.

"err, miss?" Hinata heard the gruff call of someone, she turned to tell them to leave her alone, but she realised that the entire crew of sailors had stopped in what they were doing (which wasn't much, since they just had to sit there and wait for the tide) and was watching her. "I thank you miss, we're grateful to you for saying that" said a big burly sailor, with a bushy beard and a friendly face. Hinata smiled, "its my pleasure" she said, feeling at ease.

"If there's anything we can do, Hinata-san, we'll help you" he said, and Hinata just managed to keep her expression happy, as she stepped forward, extending a hand.

"Well, calling me by my proper name would be a start. Aoko Kimi, nice to meet you…er?" Hinata thought she pulled out of that trick easily. Hinata remembered with disappointment what Asa had said about people "looking friendly enough" but, were just trying to trick her.

Later that day, they jumped haphazardly off the boat, and Hinata had to suppress the urge to land on the water, and just sink through it until they met sand. She waved goodbye to the sailors cheerfully, before they set off up the sandbanks, through unbelievably thick mist, towards Kirigakure.

**DO NOT FORGET ABOUT YONDER SAILOR!**

Mr. Young Sailor man has a part yet to come! (be it a distant one, but, it makes my boring bit between the next exciting bit a bit more spicy!) ANYWAY, since no one reviewed last time, (not surprising ) I have no one to say goodbye to! So.

Goodbye to no-one.

Ilse.


	7. Amaya Clan Compound

**Disclaimer; I own nothing!**

This is the introduction of Kosuke's mother, and a little about the surrounding area, and the type of relationship him and his family hold for each other, like, how his mother loves him, but can be quite harsh or aggressive. His cousin is rather the same, as is everyone in his home, but, Shira is a bit more easy going. You also glimspe at a bit o' culture in Kirigakure  
**  
Chapter 7; Amaya Clan Compo****und.**Hinata followed everyone lagging behind the group, looking around at the rice fields around her but only seeing a few metres in front of her, yet she knew there were miles of fields beyond the wall of mist, and up into the thick blanket of mist.

"Wow, they r-really weren't k-kidding about the m-mist, huh?" Hinata said to Shino, who was walking beside her loyally.

"Hhmm, I've heard the plants here can make our bugs grow twice the size, because the fine mist gives the plants _just_ the right amount of water. And, since its still summer, the light filters through the mist, and still gives them the sunlight they need" he explained gesturing up to the yellow mist above them, proving his point about sunlight.

Hinata nodded, intrigued. She looked out to the river, watching it flow by happily. It must have been about 50 feet wide, but she didn't know how deep. "How deep i-is the river, K-Kosuke?" Hinata asked, and Kosuke looked back at her from where he was 10 feet ahead. He looked at it for a second, then at Asa. Asa nodded, and Kosuke smiled, turning to her again. "Why don't we find out?" he asked, and swiftly dropped his small pack, and lost his shoes shirt and pants very quickly, and was soon in the river, his ripples disturbing the peaceful surface. Hinata looked at Sakura, who looked quite attracted by the idea. Kosuke resurfaced, letting out a deep sigh of content.

"Gotta' love the water", he said, and disappeared underneath again. He seemed to stay in for an impossibly long time, and Hinata looked at Asa alarmed.

"Don't worry Kimi-san. Us Amaya's have large lungs, and can stay underwater for a very long time. We don't drown easy" he said, and winked at her, grinning, his eyes glinting with some unknown secret. Hinata shrugged, and timidly peeled off her clothes. Sakura was in like a flash, and disappeared underwater. Hinata quickly followed her in, but immediately regretted it, and understood why Sakura quickly emerged and let out a strangled cry.

"Kosuke, you little bastard, where are you?! You never mentioned it was bloody _freezing!"_Sakura shouted out, and Kosuke emerged, and turned round to grin at them.

"Didn't you _see_this morning where this river started at?" he asked, swimming over powerfully, and Hinata remembered seeing the waterfall.

"Y-yes, a w-waterfall…" Hinata said, not connecting how that had to do with how hideously cold it was in this river.

"_Yes, well_and you saw our snow capped mountain Tsukiyama, correct? Well, think about where this water has actually _come _from. There's a huge mountain ridge, and every mountain stream that comes down from those mountains, and that's every bit of melted snow that just trickles down, and eventually falls into this magnificent river" he concluded, doing a relaxed backstroke.

Hinata nodded, and began to swim around, enjoying the water. Sakura, who really only wanted a refreshing wash in some nice warm water, quickly hauled herself out of the freezing river, unimpressed by the temperature of the water. Hinata loved water, in the rivers only obviously, because she trained with it intensively for a long time. She looked over at Kosuke, who was staring down into the water beside him. She jumped as he moved as quick as a snake, and disappeared into the water. Hinata, Curious, submerged to watch what he was doing.

He was swimming about under water like a fish; he had his mother's knife in his hand, and very large, angry looking fish in the other. He looked over to her, and he smiled, his hair floating around as he moved. Hinata was forced to re-surface, but Kosuke stayed under much longer, and came up later, throwing 3 of the same kind of fish onto the shore. His father laughed, and grabbed the fish, and began to work on it skilfully, removing the unwanted bits with ease.

"This wont work on your mother y'know" he said, and Kosuke laughed, before diving back under, retrieving another fish, and replying.

"Yes, well, I'm trying to sort of, _soften the blow_" he turned to Hinata explaining, "you see, my mother will skin me alive, very similar to what my father is doing now to that fish, for being a day late back. I do hope it's not too late though…" Kosuke said the last bit quietly to himself.

"Why w-will you b-be in s-so much t-trouble?" Hinata asked, and felt disappointment as her stutter was returning. Kosuke leaned back on the wooden barrier that was at the edge of the river, so it didn't burst it's banks and ruin the rice fields. He looked at her, and saw a gentle expression cross his face, Hinata blushed and looked at the others, but they were busying themselves, as Asa was showing them how to deal with fish. She swam a little bit closer to him, and gripped the wooden barrier, waiting for his answer.

"My mother worries greatly about all of us. I became a ninja younger than everyone else, and I became an ANBU captain at 15, so I was out doing dangerous, _savage _missions young, and she worries about us. She tries very hard to make sure there's not pressure on Tsuyu to become a Ninja at the age I did, but the boy is progressing extraordinarily, and, it seems impossible for him _not_to follow my progress. I just worry about Kumo. That unborn child already has an awful lot of pressure on him or her, to live up to expectations" he looked up to the sky sadly.

"But, I plan to put a stop to this whole…" he struggled to find the words, waving his hands vaguely. "_Amaya pride_, and this whole, barbaric image of ourselves, that we've gotten caught up with" he turned to her, his eyes glinting, as he leaned towards her suddenly, making her breath catch in surprise, "when _I'm _Mizukage that is" he whispered, and Hinata could smell spice on his breath, and she wondered distantly why that was. His sudden resemblance to Naruto made her blush fuchsia and smile.

"You remind me of a friend of mine…" she said, and he backed off, surprised by her response, but he gave her a crooked smile anyway.

"Who?" he asked, leaning back against the wood again.

"U-Uzumaki N-N-Naruto…" she said feeling a light blush re-taint her cheeks. She didn't see, but a slightly look of irritation crossed over Kosuke's face as he watched her fidget and poked her fingers together.

"That boy?" he asked, looking away, his mood becoming a bit irritable.

"Y-yes, d-do you kn-know him?" Hinata asked, looking at him quizzically.

"We have heard stories and rumours, and we were aware he was present when Zabuza and Zabuza's charge was killed" he said, staring as the water with an uninterested expression. "_Loud, noisy, impossibly persistent, and with far too much Chakra_" he said, obviously quoting someone. Hinata gave a dry chuckle as that seemed to fit Naruto's criteria exactly.

"Are you friend with him?" Kosuke asked suddenly, and turned the full force of his gaze on her. She was shocked by his forward attitude, and immediately she blushed. She saw his eyes darken, and he scoffed, but waited for his answer.

"Y-Yes, h-he's… Sort of a-an inspiration, f-for me…He _n-never _gives up especially f-for his friends. I w-wish I c-could be as s-strong as him…" she trailed off, loosing herself in memories of the Chuunin Exam and her fight with Neji. She was dragged from her thoughts though, as Kosuke flicked water at her.

"Whatever, Kimi, you're far too strong for your own good anyway. If you're just wishing to be as strong as him, you must think this guy's some sort of _God_" he said, and pulled himself up to stand on the water. He held a hand out to haul Hinata up, but she ignored it and just stared at him.

"T-too st-st-strong??" she asked, bewildered, and he sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes.

"Erm, yeah, you kicked my ass right? I'm one of _the _strongest in the village. Now hurry up, dinners ready" he said, and held his hand out again. She took it gratefully, remembering she wasn't meant to be able to use her Chakra, and he hauled her up, and plonked her on the grass, before hopping up gracefully himself, drying instantly as he used his Jutsu.

He glanced at her for a second, and then held his hand in front of her face, muttering. She suddenly saw he was _making hand signs with one hand_, and she was about to ask him what he was doing, before she realised she was now very dry. And in her underwear. She gave an indistinct squeak, throwing her jacket over her, and struggling on clothes afterwards. She could practically _hear_Kosuke smirking at her.

Her head began to swim from the sheer embarrassment of it, and she quickly snuggled up to Shino next to the fire that was cooking the fish that Kosuke had caught. They all then gathered round in a circle round the fire, Hinata leaning closer twisting her hair to get rid of extra water. She was dry, yes, but her hair wasn't. It was a _pain _to dry, because there was so much of it. But Hinata loved her hair anyway. Suddenly, she felt a hand touch her hair, which made her jump and turn. She once again had a hand in her face again, and her hair was dried instantly. Kosuke dropped his hand back to ripping chunks off his fish. He didn't even look like he'd done anything.

"Thanks, Kosuke-san" Hinata said, and accepted the fish-on-a-stick handed to her by Asa.

"About when we arrive. We're only about 20 metres from the bend in the river, and after that, about 100 metres from the gates to Kirigakure" he said, and Hinata looked up in surprise. She could see no bend, and no gates. She didn't realise that they were so close.

"Me and Kosuke will be dressed up as ANBU, and you shouldn't really talk to us, and address us as "Amaya-san" until we're safely inside my house. You should always address us as Amaya-san, when you're anywhere near anyone old inside our compound" he said, a smile touching at his lips.

"It's not uncommon for Kosuke to be out and about, but, he's _usually _on duty. He does go out though, I mean, he does have a social life" Asa said casually, ignoring Kosuke's blistering gaze. "But, he gets bothered by people a lot when he goes out off duty, so he tries to avoid it" Asa, said, finishing his fish, and burying the organic scrap. "We should be on our way then. We don't want to get caught out in the dark" he said, and everyone scrambled up, eager to get in.

They weren't challenged too much at the gate, as soon as the Guards, both carrying strange shaped swords, saw who Asa was. "Alright, Kosuke, ANBU up…" Asa muttered to Kosuke, and they both strapped their Masks on, Kosuke an Owl, and Amaya a Coyote. They marched into the city, and found it almost deserted. For what they could see, anyway, because the Mist made it hard to see too far. But, Hinata could just hear the bustle of city life. She was about to speed up, eager to see the city, when Shino suddenly grabbed her arm, and dragged her back. She heard the loud _clang _of metal on metal, as she looked up to see Kosuke blocking a masked ninja, also with the Amaya Clan symbol clearly showing on his shoulder.

Hinata gasped as she saw Kosuke's sword. When he attacked those men in the woods, he moved too fast for her to see without the Byakugan, so she didn't realise what colour it was. It began blood red at the hilt, slowly melting into oranges and yellow, before ending in a deep black. Hinata looked at Asa's sword, who's was similar, except that it was mostly black, like Kosuke's was mostly colour. It had a small patch of colour, a deep red and orange, near the hilt, which went into a dark blue, then the last half was black. Asa was casually holding his sword up, which was holding back the weight of a fully grown man. Asa looked completely unphased by their arrival.

Kosuke swiftly kicked his Opponent back, and Hinata heard him laugh quietly.

"Good reactions, Kosuke, I was hoping you'd have…relaxed during that so called "mission" to Konoha. Just running around having a good time" said Kosuke's opponent, who stood, removing his mask, shocking Hinata at how very much like a Lion he resembled. She looked over to Asa, and saw two of him. Asa's opponent must've been his twin, and Hinata's mind began to marvel at how her and Kosuke's life seemed strangely similar.

"Yeah, like that's _ever _going to happen. Shirakawamaru, these are the people we've brought back. Yamato, this is Shirakawamaru, my cousin, he knows, the, err, _full extent _of your mission" Kosuke said, giving Yamato a knowing look. So, this Shirakawamaru knew that they were Ninja's. "Shira, this is Kasumi Yamato, and his daughter Yuuna. And this is Aoko Shino, and his little sister Kimi" Kosuke said, placing a hand on Hinata's shoulder, looking at Shira with a meaningful look. Shira turned his gaze to Hinata, and Hinata noticed he had green eyes, and got a similar feeling to having Neji's Byakugan on her, a soul searching look. Shira nodded in understanding, and then he and Kosuke began to talk fast, Shira filling Kosuke in about their clan.

It was then Asa's turn for introductions, as he brought over what she assumed was his brother. "Yamato, children, this is my twin brother, Shishio" and Hinata could tell why they called him Shishio (Lion King). He and Asa were twins, but, he had just that wild look around him, that made him just _look _like a lion. Plus, his hair was sandy, unlike Asa's brown. Shira's hair had silver streaks through his sandy hair, which maybe explained his name (white river). "This man is the official head of the Amaya clan. Shira over there is our little sister, Hamako's, son. Her husband died in the Kaguya Clan's attack, so, be aware, she's strong, and you are not to mention that to her. Or else" Asa added on the end, flashing a dangerous look at them all.

After that, the Ninja carried them all back up to the house. Yamato protested a lot, but they said it was getting dark, and they needed to hurry since it was getting dark. So, Shishio carried Yamato, and Asa, Shino, while Kosuke carried Sakura, and Shira knelt down to help Hinata.

"S-Sorry, about this, S-Shirakawamaru. B-but, we _just can't _travel a-as f-fast as you" Hinata said quietly to him as they jumped over rooftops.

"Don't worry. Are you Hinata then?" he said quietly back, looking over his shoulder, and Hinata nodded.

"Y-yes, why?" she asked, and Shira grinned.

"Have you fought with 'Suke yet? And call me Shira, please" he added, and it took Hinata a few seconds to realise he meant Kosuke when he said 'Suke'.

"Y-yes, Shira-san" she said, wondering what he meant. Shira laughed.

"Did you beat him?" Shira asked, giving her an amused looked. Hinata nodded shyly, and Shira snorted.

"Proud idiot. I'll have to apologise for him, he has a thing about Hyuuga's. Always wanted to fight one. I'm glad you've put him in his place. He doesn't seem to dislike you though. Guess since you're a girl. Strange, I was sure he laughed before too. I mean, he's not completely serious, but, it's usually deep inside the Amaya compound before he shows any emotion…Not that I'm complaining of course. You'll have to tell me all about your journey over here, too. I'm so annoyed I couldn't get to go, I'd love to see the Fire country, y'know?" he said, bewildering Hinata. He talked an awful lot to be related to Kosuke. Hinata just laughed, her grip tightening as they began to hurry up a rough slope. Looks like they were taking the back door.

"Sure, Shira-kun. When do we get to see the city?" she asked, looking back trying to glimpse Kirigakure through the mist.

"Whenever the elders are done with ya', Kimi-chan" he said, and they scaled the wall. Hinata felt it was strange they were so comfortable with each other already. He just seemed to be an easy person to be with. As they stopped, Hinata slid off of Shira's back, and scuttled over to Shino, and they were led through a complicated maze of buildings and courtyards. The resemblance to the Hyuuga compound was definitely there, but the Amaya complex, seemed to have, and undercurrent to it, a subtle buzz that gave life to the beautiful plants and trees. Its decorations were a dark blue and black, while the Hyuuga's had a lighter blue and white theme throughout their buildings.

Hinata's heart suddenly leapt as she saw 5 or 6 older men, stood in bark blue robes, with the Amaya emblem on it, looking gravely at them as they approached. Asa promptly introduced them, by their fake names, then handed them pieces of paper with their real names, Ninja status, and abilities were. They looked at Sakura with an approving glance, before turning to Hinata. "Hhmm, interesting. Had a fight with Kosuke yet?" a youngish looking one asked, well, he was younger than the rest, but older then Asa and Shishio. "Err, Y-Y-Yes, sir" Hinata said quickly, glancing at Shira.

"You win?" he asked, suddenly grinning at her.

"Yes yes, she beat me, so what?" Kosuke cut over her, looking offended. The man laughed loudly, and shook his head. "Alright, I was just wondering. Okay, you can stop being formal now, kids. Asa, your wife is furious, and Tsuyu is out training with Shirakawa" he said, and Asa nodded, watching as the Elders quickly removed their robes, so show a mixture of ninja clothes underneath, and they all disappeared to do separate things. Hinata was confused, as Shira was stood right next to her, do how could this 'Tsuyu' person be training with him?

"Shirakawa is the name of the River through the Rice fields, the one you travelled alond. We use it so much, its full of Chakra, so, it often does strange things, so its like a person. So we say, training _with_ rather than _on_" he informed her, as they led them through the compound. "You're going to _love _Kosuke's mother, by the way, she's a wonderful person" he added, leaning forward to involve Sakura in the conversation as well. "And, she's always wanted a daughter, but, as you know, she only has two sons, Kosuke and Tsuyu. She's desperately hoping that Kumo is a girl, so she'll be excited to have females in the house" he said, grinning at them both.

"So, we're staying at Kosuke's?" Sakura asked, glancing round at Kosuke, who was walking ahead, conversing with his uncle. Sakura pulled a face.

"Uh huh, and he's not too bad. When he's relaxed in his own home, he's almost a normal person, y'know?" Shira said, laughing along with Sakura. "But, yeah. He seemed surprisingly relaxed when we greeted him before" Greeted being the playful attack, "But, there's a lot more to him, so, just give him a bit of time, before you get to know him. Which _you will _have to do, coz, we're supposed to be vaguely related. Not by blood, but, yeah, we're meant to be close, I guess. So, Yuuna-san, medical huh?" Shira said, as he went forward and pulled out a key and opened the front door. They walked in, and Hinata could feel Chakra in the air. It was a huge house, and reminded her of Neji's home. They walked into a grand entranceway, and Hinata gasped at the sight of a Grand Piano just_ there_ in the middle of the hall.

"It was our grandmothers. She had similar hair to yours" he said, nodding at Hinata. "You play?" he asked, and Hinata nodded, resisting the urge to go over. Shira nodded, as if committing the information to memory. "Well, me and my mother share this house with Kosuke and Asa and them, since there's just the two of us, and they have loads of rooms, and my mother gets lonely on her own, y'know? So, Kosuke's mother, Miyuki, offered her to stay with her, because _she_gets lonely when Asa and Kosuke and Tsuyu are out doing "ninja things" he said, and led them through into a living room.

"Why do you always have the need to tell you life story to anyone who listens, Shira?" a gentle voice sounded out, and Hinata turned to see a heavily pregnant woman stood in the doorway to what looked like the kitchen, wielding a spoon. Shira laughed, and dropped onto a couch. The woman, Miyuki, was beautiful. She had thick blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a tough, strong demeanour of someone who's worked all her life. She wasn't a ninja though; she didn't have the right look or stance to be a killer.

"I just like people to be informed is all" he said, and Hinata looked round. Asa and Shishio had disappeared, as well as Yamato. Miyuki smiled, and waddled towards her and Sakura with outstretched arms. "Welcome young dears, I'm _glad _you're here, finally, women! I'm sick to death of Kosuke and Asa!" she said, and hugged them both at the same time, her huge bump making hugging her hard. Hinata smiled to her, but felt that something, was just, weird. When Miyuki turned to go back into the kitchen, and beckoned them all to follow, she quietly activated her Byakugan. What she saw made her freeze in panic.

This woman was not pregnant. And she probably wasn't Miyuki.

--

**Thanks to Mori, for reviewing!**

**Goodbye to Mori6!**

**Ilse.**


	8. The First Test

**Lol, we find out about Miyuki here, what will Kosuke do?? read to find out! Here i try to give Hinata more self-confidence. BEcuase, it's relavent for later on, and plus, it's annoying to make her stutter!**

**Chapter 8; The First Test.**

* * *

_When Miyuki turned to go back into the kitchen, and beckoned them all to follow, she quietly activated her Byakugan. What she saw, made her freeze in panic._

_This woman was not Pregnant. And she probably wasn't Miyuki._

* * *

"Kimi-chan! You should be careful, what if Miyuki hadn't known!" Shira suddenly exclaimed, making Hinata jump. She deactivated her Byakugan as the Miyuki impersonator turned to look at her. She didn't want this person to realise she was a Hyuuga.

"Sorry, Shira-kun" she said, smiling at him, and turned to look for Kosuke. She didn't have to look far, as he was stood right behind her, looking down at her with a curious expression.

"What?" he asked in a low voice. Hinata turned to look at him, a frightened pleading look on her face, as she mouthed 'Mother' at him. His eyes flickered up to the busy Miyuki, who had called out for Hinata to join her. He gave a tiny nod, and pushed her towards the kitchen. Hinata went, and saw Shira stiffen as Kosuke made a small hand gesture to him.

They all filed into the kitchen, where the fake Miyuki was, waddling around, stirring pans and checking ovens. Kosuke wandered in, more like swaggered, and casually wandered up to his mother, and placed a light kiss on her forehead, and asked; "what's for dinner, dearest mother?" he asked lightly, smiling at her. Miyuki smiled back, and replied;

"Your favourite!" she said, and Kosuke looked over at the bubbling pan of soup. He grinned, and thanked her, and Hinata could see that it was a fake smile, a very fake smile. She'd seen his smile when he thought of his family members, but this wasn't it. Kosuke walked out of Miyuki's sight, and looked at Shira, with a grave face. Shira gave a small shrug, and nodded.

"You know, I would like that soup more if it was my mother that made it" Kosuke said it, standing very close to the fake woman, as he idly unsheathed his sword a few inches, and slid it back in sharply, so it made a menacing _shing. _The imposter visibly froze, and everyone was suddenly on edge. Kosuke twitched his hand, and Shira stood back, guarding the door. Hinata saw him motion behind him to the other door to the outside. She turned to guard it, but found Shino already there.

"What do you mean, Kosuke? Of course I made it!" the fake Miyuki said, and Hinata heard the slightly panicked tone. Hinata just saw a shift of Kosuke's shoulders, and knew he was uncomfortable by challenging her.

"Wrong answer, imposter" he said assuredly none the less, but he looked over his shoulder at Hinata, and raised an eyebrow. Hinata nodded, and took hold of Sakura's arm, and guided her to stand in front of her. Sakura was taller than Hinata, but Hinata could see through Sakura with Byakugan, so she wouldn't impede her sight, but not let the imposter know she was a Hyuuga. As she activated her Byakugan, she saw that, indeed there was no baby in that swollen stomach.

"No baby" she hissed to Sakura, and Sakura nodded.

"I've seen a million pregnancies, and that's no baby bump" Sakura snarled out, and Hinata deactivated.

"What? Yuuna! Not you too?" Miyuki said, and turned pushing past Kosuke to advance on Sakura. Hinata pulled Sakura back so they were standing side by side.

"We listen to Kosuke, imposter" Hinata said, holding Miyuki's eyes.

"Now, where's my mother?" Kosuke asked, in a low dangerous voice, his hand grabbing the imposters shoulder. Hinata sidled over to Shira, and whispered instructions to him.

"If you inject chakra here" she said and pointed to the very middle of her collar bone, "the illusion _should_ be broken…" she whispered, and he nodded, and disappeared.

He reappeared in front of Kosuke, and poked the fake Miyuki, who promptly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The frightened male ninja now stood in her place, looked around, slightly shocked, before, bolting towards Hinata to make an escape. Hinata prepared herself for the attack, but the man was suddenly halted by Kosuke's arm round his neck. Kosuke uncaringly threw him to the floor, unsheathing his sword, and placing it by the man's neck.

"Now I'll ask nicely, _just once_, where. Is. My. _Mother?_" Kosuke asked his tone dangerous. The man, scared half to death, just shook his head, shaking like a leaf. And Hinata didn't blame him, an angry Kosuke, was a scary Kosuke. Suddenly, there was a book flying through the air, and hit Kosuke with a loud _thud_ and made another, similar, _thud_ as it hit the floor. Kosuke turned slowly, confused, to see, assumedly, his real mother in the doorway. Shira slunk back to Hinata, and she hid behind him to check this mother. Yep, definitely pregnant. Kosuke turned to look at Hinata, who gave a small nod, then at Sakura, who gave a vague nod. Hinata thought about Shino, but, saw that Yamato was there, and had stopped him from raising the alarm.

Kosuke, sighed, and grabbed the book, before whirling, quick as a snake, and threw it as hard as he could back at her. Hinata gasped, thinking of how he could do such a thing, but, his mother didn't even flinch as it slammed into the wall about 3 feet to her right.

"YOU" she said, pointing at him, "are late" she finished, grinning. Hinata could see the resemblance between the two, and the huge difference in character from her to the fake Miyuki. The other woman was far too gentil, in comparison to her tough look.

"You nearly gave me a god damned heart attack, WOMAN! Good GOD, I though someone had kidnapped you or something!" he said, then gestured at Hinata and Sakura. "What else was I supposed to think!?" he shouted, standing tall, and seething on the spot. I watched as Asa just slid into the room to grab an apple, completely unperturbed by this confrontation.

"Yeah, well, what was _I_ supposed to think when you and your father came back a day late! Huh? Answer me that!" she shouted back.

"You should think we were a day late because we were sorting out a problem, which we were!" he countered, "We're perfectly able to look after ourselves!"

"Like what?" she snapped, and Kosuke brought his hands to his temples.

"One moment" he said, and turned to the young ninja who was posing to be his mother, "very sorry boy, don't ever do anything for my mother again. Now go" he said, pointing to the door, into which he quickly disappeared through. "Hinata" he said, looking at Hinata, making her blush by the lack of 'san' on her name, "is there anyone around, listening?" he asked, then looked at Shino, "same for you" and they both set to work making sure that there was no spies.

They both shook their heads before he continued; Miyuki was looking at Hinata with a strange look. "Listen, we stopped to save 2 girls from a pack of men, who were raping and beating them. And, that night, well, me and Kimi" he gestured to Hinata, "sort of, got into a play fight" he said, and began to carry on, but he was stopped.

"She beat you? Oh, _what?_ My big-headed son was beaten by a…a _Hyuuga_" she said 'Hyuuga' in a whisper, then began to giggle.

"Well, it's hardly surprising, Hyuuga's are the elite" Sakura chipped in, her annoyance at everyone being shocked that Hinata could beat Kosuke showing clearly.

"I mean no offence to you, Kimi my dear, its just, my dear son is always boasting about his strength over any Kekkei Genkai, since he managed to beat _one_ Hyuuga he came across, and, it seems appropriate that he was beaten so horribly!" Miyuki chuckled, overjoyed. But Hinata was confused, Kosuke had no idea to the techniques of a Hyuuga, so, how could be have fought one?

"You sure it was a Hyuuga?" Sakura asked, looking suspiciously at Kosuke. He stood upright, his pride hurt. "Of course! That's what he said, and he had weird eyes" he said, looking briefly at Hinata.

"Well, then, they probably weren't fighting you properly. The techniques that Hinata use on you were the _basic_ Hyuuga techniques, even though she didn't use Gentle Fist, and you seemed very unaware of those techniques" Sakura said, shrugging.

"Well, it was a different form, the one with the red eyes, y'know? Definitely from Konoha, but I could be wrong, but an eye technique from Konoha, is the Byakugan, yes?" he said, and looked at them all.

"Oh. Red, you say?" Shino chipped in, and looked at Yamato.

"When did you say you fought this, err, 'Hyuuga'?" Sakura asked, astonished.

"Err, a few months back, probably 6 or 7" he said, frowning in thought.

"Did he leave his name?" Sakura continued.

"_She_ didn't, but, it was very hard to land a blow. I eventually tired her chakra source, and she had to pull back" he glanced at Hinata, "I guess its hard to uphold that level of Byakugan…?" he suggested, and Hinata shook her head.

"The Byakugan has its name for a reason. _White eyes._ We hold no red eye techniques. That's the Sharingan, from the dead Uchiha clan. I haven't heard of any other people other than Sasuke-san and Itachi being alive today. What do you thinks gone on?" Hinata said, looking at Yamato. He just shrugged.

"Well, it would be silly to assume that from such a big clan could have no other descendants. Itachi killed a lot of them, but those out on a mission, or bastard children were always a possibility the Hokage never overlooked" he said simply. "Where did you meet this Uchiha girl?" Yamato asked, and Kosuke shrugged. "Not in a ninja country, the Rice country" he said, and Yamato nodded. "I'll inform the Hokage when she contacts us. This is an interesting turn" he said, and sat deep in thought.

"Well, yes, right, who wants' leek and potato soup, hhmm?" Miyuki said suddenly, waddling over to the stove with the pan of soup.

* * *

"Err, guys, can we check you out now?" Shira said, poking his head round the door. Sakura looked up at him from her dinner, raising an eyebrow.

"Check us out?" she questioned, and looked to Yamato for assistance. Shira grinned like a child.

"Yeah, everyone's dying to fight you! You'll be safe, y'know, in an enclosed environment! No one will see, we promise! We've got everything locked down and private this side of the Amaya clan, y'know!" he said, coming into the room, and jumping up and down on the spot.

"Err, sure…alright" Yamato said, nodding, then turned to Hinata, "no organ failure's, and _definitely_ no full body bone crushing, Yuuna, and Shino…just, y'know, keep it at a low down…" Yamato said, and stood.

They all stood and followed Shira through a complicated maze of corridors, which very suddenly opened out into a high roofed training compound, complete with trees, and a large sandy area. Shira turned, and looked straight at Hinata.

"You mind, Kimi-chan, if you and me fight?" he asked, his eyes glinting in joy. Hinata smiled nervously, and looked around for weapons. Yamato suddenly produced a bag, and Hinata glanced inside, before extracting a few Kunai, and strapping the pouch to her belt, dropping her coat. She didn't need the weapons really, just to judge Shira's strength and speed, and taking in other aspects.

"Ready, Kimi-chan?" Shira said, grinning.

"Very, Shira-kun" she replied, giving a small smile. Shira then drew his sword, a pure white blade with a light blue tip, a truly breathtaking sword. Hinata wondered why all of their swords were so fancy. He began to circle and Hinata mirrored his movements, activating her Byakugan, holding her Kunai out in front of her. Shira suddenly attacked, and Hinata Jumped back, blocking the sword. He wasn't going at full strength; But Hinata was not moving at full speed either.

They both continued like this, being very defensive, just testing each other, Hinata getting a good look at his chakra channels, his openings, and his weak spots in his organs, and, when she was done mapping him. She suddenly darted forward, hitting his hand away sharply, and stared into his eyes form just inches away. He looked surprised, but struck back, and Hinata spun away, quickly landing into eight trigrams position.

Shira stared at her for a second, confused at the move. She jumped back, hoping he'd be convinced, and began to frown, as if deep in thought. Shira eyes widened, and his eyes flicked briefly to Kosuke. "Ah, so you've spoken to Kosuke" Hinata said, smirking. Hyuuga's liked people to think they could read their minds, since extreme concentration enabled them to have an insight into how the person was going to move.

Shira shook his head, and Hinata caught his eye for a second, and ignored his feint, and blocked his surprise Shuriken attack. Shira looked at her, horrified, and then jumped back. But just not far enough. She saw his fingers twitch as if he was going to do ninjutsu. She threw he hand back, shouting;

"Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou!" and sprinted forward, and hit him twice, one on the heart, and on his right shoulder, while saying "2 hits!" She continued, to spin and twist, just out of his reach, shouting, "4 hits! 8 Hits! 16 Hits! 32 Hits! 64 Hits!" she finished her last hit, in his stomach, and he stumbled backwards, and had to crouch down, his white sword raised menacingly. He ground his teeth together, and suddenly disappeared. Hinata looked around her, and he began to throw shuriken, Kunai, and feint rocks from all directions.

She easily knocked away all his attacks, and suddenly found herself face to face with him. He began to attack her feverishly, and she feared she'd have to use Jyuuken. His attacks didn't lessen, his blade just a white blur, and eventually, she checked his insides, and hit his leg bone joints on his hip, her chakra forcing its way in, to cause great pain in movement. He jumped back, and she saw him grimace, his legs shaking. He began to move around less, but, his arms still moved ferociously. She felt his blade slice cleanly through her arm.

She gasped in pain, and twirled away from him, and forced her chakra into his right shoulder, causing pain when he moved. He turned sharply, and galred at her limping slightly away. He sucked in his breath, and charged at her again. "Hakke Kuushou!" Hinata shouted, and thrust her palm towards him. He was thrown back by the blast of compressed chakra and air she had created. She'd have to thank Neji for teaching her that.

Hinata looked at him, and stepped out of her defensive position. "Shira-kun, if we continue, I'll be forced to danage your internal organs. Please, just give up, you don't want to give Sakura a hard time, do you?" Hinata tried to reason, not really hoping for him to give up. Shira's eyes turned to look at Kosuke, who shrugged

"You lasted miles longer than me, I stopped after she did the eight-trigram thingy" he said, and Shira, grinned, and attempted to straighten, but just groaned.

"What did you do to me Hinata??" he gasped, and slowly lowered himself to the ground, and laid flat on the floor, panting. Sakura dropped to her knees beside him, and placed one arm over his hips, and one over his right arm socket.

"No bother" she said, grinning down at him, "Hyuuga's are always beating the hell out of each other, so we always get 'em in, wanting to get back to training as soon as possible, so I can do this real quick" she said, and ran her hand over his entire body, about 8 inches up in the air, and unblocked all his chakra holes.

"Ah, thank you Sakura-chan. I'm most grateful!" Shira said happily.

"Can I fight you, Sakura?" Kosuke asked suddenly, looking at her with shining eyes. Hinata knew they still had no idea of Sakura's abilities, apart from any medic skills, and a warning from Yamato never to get punched by her. And no one really wanted to fight Shino's strange talent. Asa and Yamato were already in full swing of their fight, a heated, but seemingly even, match, and Yamato had since avoided too much plant work. He probably didn't want to show the full extent of his power.

Sakura nodded, and smiled to Kosuke. "I'm just a medic, I can't do anything fancy, or have a Kekkei Genkai like Hinata, but, I'll try anyway!" Sakura said cheerfully, and Hinata almost believed her little act.

Sakura and Kosuke stood opposite each other; Sakura had discreetly tugged on her gloves, and now gripped Kunai. Kosuke stood, his devastatingly beautiful sword unsheathed and twitching minutely in his grip. Kosuke suddenly disappeared, charging at her as fast as he could from the front. But, Sakura's reaction time was far too fast for him. She coolly dodged him, her Kunai sweeping down to cut him. There was a loud _rrriip_ as Kosuke jumped out of her way, his shirt ruined, and he quickly ripped the rest off so as not to get in his way. Hinata gasped at the sheer amount of scars and wounds he had on his body. It made her wonder.

It continued like this, Sakura easily dodging most of his high speed attacks, Kosuke becoming more and more reckless in his attempt to hit her. Eventually, he just charged straight at her, and Hinata flinched in preparation.

Sakura's smirk widened and she dropped her Kunai, and cried out in triumph and effort, as she landed a direct hit into his chest. There was a resounding _crack_ as Kosuke choked, and blood spurted from his mouth, and he was thrown back and hit the ground with a sickening _thud_.

Hinata gasped, and nearly ran to him, but he dragged himself up, coughing up blood, and stood shakily, grinning at Sakura.

"Good lord lady, that's one _hell_ of a punch" he said, and spat more blood onto the floor. Sakura sighed, "Yeah, maybe I should' a held up a bit. It's going to be a pain to heal that" she said, pointing at his chest. "How bad is it, Hinata?" Sakura asked, glancing over to Hinata. Hinata sighed, and activated her Byakugan, looking over to Kosuke, and zooming in.

"Erm, all left side ribs broken, a punctured lung, and you've fractured a few right ribs" Hinata said, her face crumpling in worry.

"Alright, Kosuke lets stop before you drown in your own blood" Sakura said, leaning down and scooping up her Kunai. Kosuke shook his head, and held his sword up, a defiant look on his face.

"_No_, kosuke" came Asa's commanding voice. Obviously, he and Yamato had eventually decided to stop fighting, and to watch Kosuke.

"Father, please" Kosuke said back, and Hinata could see a sheen of sweat on his forehead clearly. Suddenly, Sakura disappeared, and appeared behind him. Kosuke looked over his shoulder, but his body couldn't turn fast enough to block her. Sakura's hand, a glowing green colour, touched the back of his head, and Kosuke immediately fell unconscious. She easily caught him, and cast his sword aside, laying him carefully on the floor, before beginning to heal him.

"Will he be alright, Sakura?" Hinata asked, and Sakura Pfft-ed.

"Of course! This isn't _anything_, too easy for me!" she said, chuckling to herself, as she healed him. Hinata could tell though, as a bead of sweat formed on her forehead that Sakura had to concentrate hard on what she was doing.

Asa sighed, and Hinata turned to him. "His poor mother. She shouldn't have to have unnecessary worry, when she's _this_ pregnant. Y'know, she's due in 3 weeks time? That's a terrifying thought…" he said, and rubbed his eyes. Hinata smiled, feeling slightly envious of Kosuke, as his father was so caring.

"Alright then, enough's enough, let's get back to the house. Dark has officially fallen, and you lot must be tired. Come on, we'll show you to your quarters"

* * *

A few days after their arrival, Konoha's messenger hawk arrived, delivering a message to them all. All, quite mundane things to begin with, this was the state of the village, blah blah, but Hinata listened carefully for information on Kurenai or Kiba.

"And finally, a note for Kimi" Yamato read, and glanced up at Hinata, "Kurenai's baby is showing signs of preparing for labour, such as it has stopped moving, kicking or rolling over. Also, Kiba is almost fully healed, with only a broken leg yet to be mended. It is causing a bit of trouble, because, it started to heal before we set it, so it will have to be re-broken. Don't panic, he's in good hands…" Yamato paused raised an eyebrow at Hinata, wondering if she was going to start to cry. But Hinata merely nodded, and Yamato continued to read, before settling down to write a return note.

Hinata sighed, and curled up on the sofa in Asa's home. It was very large, and beautiful, and had very squishy sofas, which Hinata appreciated. She was just dying to play the piano, but figured it to be awfully rude to just, help herself to playing it. She wondered idly about the rest of the compound, and where Shira and his mother, Hamako, resided. She wondered also if Kirigakure itself would be as frightening as the stories tell.

* * *

**OMG! 3 people reviewed on chapter 7. ITS LIKE A RECORD! lol. Next Chapter;**

**Chapter 9: Kosuke's Plan. **

**Here, a small time skip, and we hear ALL about what Kosuke is up to! Plus, i needed this to happen so i could move my story on to the first big event! yey! but, like, not yey. I have up to chapter 13 written up, and i just need to edit chapters 10 upwards and get them onto the system. this site is so convenient. Well anyway.**

**Good bye to "WellITriedSoManyOptions", "SinShu" and "Mori3"!!  
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**

**Ilse.**


	9. Kosuke's Plan

Disclaimer: i don't own 'owt.

**Chapter 9; Kosuke's plan.**

2 weeks into their mission, and summer had finally ended. Hinata loved autumn. She loved the colours, and the warm feel of the ochre's and musty browns. But, Hinata was officially bored. They'd past all the talks, and they'd passed the rigorous training, so they knew every nook and cranny of the Amaya compound backwards. Plus, Kosuke was acting a bit weird towards her.

He'd lately taken to frowning at her, as if contemplating, and him and Shira would be forever talking, but would immediately stop whenever she entered. Hinata had just escaped from the house, as soon as the council was in session, and was walking up a steep slope, and into a thick pine tree forest. You See, the Amaya compound was built on the slope of a mountain, mostly levelled off, but backed onto pine forest that went up and almost to the peak of the mountain. The Village itself was in a valley between two mountain ranges, and set into like a bowl, where streams flowed through the town, and joined onto the river, Shirakawa, Shirakawamaru's namesake, meaning White River.

Hinata sighed and, found a big boulder to settle down on. She'd been moving out of range of humans, and observing the town below with her Byakugan trying to familiarise herself with it. Asa had been hesitant to let them into the town, until it began to snow, so they'd be less conspicuous. But, Hinata figured he was just worried, aside from the fact they'd proved themselves perfectly capable of protecting themselves-

A small snap of a twig alerted her of a presence, and Hinata jumped up, pulling out a small knife that Kosuke had supplied them all with.

"Calm, Hinata-san, it's just me" called Kosuke's voice. Hinata still activated her Byakugan, to check him.

"What do you want, Kosuke-san?" Hinata asked, expecting a pre-defined answer.

"Oh, y'know, the usual. For someone to kick my ass" he said, chuckling to himself, and Hinata relaxed. Everyone had agreed on answers to expect from each other, and this was Hinata's and Kosuke's. Hinata smiled as he approached, glancing back over his shoulder. Hinata looked back the way he had come, and then checked the surrounding area.

"Its okay, Kosuke-san, no ones there" Hinata said, shuffling on the spot wondering what he wanted.

"Good, I hate it when they follow me. How did you know of this place?" he asked, nodding towards the boulder.

"Oh, I just wandered up the path, and found it. I didn't know it was here" she replied, a little sheepishly, realising he might just be up here because this was the place that _he_ comes to be alone. She looked at the floor, and shifted a little uncomfortably.

She _had_ been avoiding him, and she now wondered if he had realised. Well, it _was_ his fault. If he hadn't been whispering about her in the first place, she might not have been so edgy. Hinata risked a glance to his face, and blushed as he was staring hard at her, the same look of contemplation that she was used to. As she looked up, he visibly sighed, and looked as if he had made a decision. He began to slowly approach her, his eyes glued to the floor.

"Kosuke-san, are you…a-alright?" she finished her sentence uncertainly, as he invaded her personal space, looking down at her carefully.

"Why is it…Hinata…" he said, and made her blush profusely as he said her name without the 'san', "that you refer to Shira, as 'Shira-kun', even though you've known him less time than you've known me?" he said, his voice low and smooth. She remembered _this_ Kosuke very well. The Kosuke that had been in the clearing, in the wood, when he'd asked about Hanabi. The smooth voice, which he reserved only for private, when talking about his family. He was a surprisingly smooth and imposing man in general. Hinata gulped, feeling her embarrassment rise.

"W-Well, I-I…err…d-don't really kn-know…I-I, j-just…" she stopped, when she realised that Kosuke wasn't really listening. He was looking down at her, and she could see a decision in his eyes. He suddenly, moved closer, making her heart jolt in surprise, but then he backed away quickly, shaking his head to himself. Hinata let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, as she saw Kosuke turn around.

"Doesn't matter, Hyuuga-san…Just mild curiosity…" he said, and she saw his head tilt upwards as it he was looking at the tree canopy. She suddenly felt very stupid, as Kosuke had very easily intimidated her.

"N-No matter, _Amaya-sama"_ she hissed, not at all amused at his violation of their promise. She saw him flash a look of annoyance over his shoulder, before he continued on down the slope. She definitely was _not_ amused by her behaviour, but she just couldn't bring herself to say she hated it.

* * *

Over the next few days, Hinata found herself being continually cornered by Kosuke, every now and again when no one was there. Every time, he could get closer than he had the last time, and suddenly, pull a disgusted looking face, and practically run away. It confused Hinata more than it annoyed her, but, it left her breathless and shaky for at least 10 minutes afterwards.

But, Hinata had been feverently avoiding him, desperate to keep out of his way. She found peace and quiet within the mansion as soon as council was called. And she'd been dying to do something ever since she'd arrived, but only had the guts to do it now. As soon as that council door was closed, Hinata deactivated her Byakugan, and sneaked into the main foyer. She wasn't banned really, from going anywhere, and she hadn't been told _not_ to, but usually, her manners would stop her. But, she really really wanted to do this.

She sat down on the stool, it creaked and groaned under her weight, but she ignored it, passing her fingers lightly over the white and black keys. She found a deep peace playing the piano, and dear lord, she needed the peace from Kosuke's constant badgering. Yamato was also always present in the meetings. Since Miyuki had a week left of her pregnancy, Sakura had taken it upon herself to follow her around, so she was wherever Miyuki was, and Shino was busy exploring the surrounding woods with Shira, so that left the mansion very empty, and no one to bother her. Hinata felt her insides uncurl as she began to play the perfectly tuned piano. It felt so relaxing to get it out, as she played her favourite, peaceful sonnets.

When Hinata's mother had died giving birth to Hanabi, Hinata was merely 6 years old. Hinata had taken it upon herself to raise Hanabi the way she had been raised, even if there were plenty of Nannies to take care of the things that kept her alive. Hinata felt it was a shame if Hanabi did not learn the things their mother had taught Hinata. So, Hinata began to learn about Birds, and plants, and began to fine tune her piano playing skills, because, these were the things her mother knew of. Hinata and her mother would go out for walks, and her mother would tell her to listen. She'd point out the _'tic tic' _of the angry robin red breast, and show her the leaves of the Ash tree. And she'd teach her piano, and play her lullaby on the piano. And that was the one of the things Hinata regretted. Not being able to play that lullaby, nor even remember how it went anymore. The other regrets were being too scared of her father to continue to mother Hanabi, and for neglecting her Ninja duties while she learned these things, and failing as a ninja, which in turn meant Hanabi became their father's favourite. She wondered if it would have been better is she had trained hard and kept the title of heiress instead of doing what she did.

Hinata paused, as she realised she was playing everything all wrong, and that tears flooded her face. She stopped, and sobbed a bit quietly, trying desperately to get herself under control. She wiped her face, hoping that nobody would notice her red eyes later. She pulled her hair down nervously, staring at the keys. She was abruptly ripped form her thoughts, as a warm body sat next to her on the seat, and began to play, triumphant, strong music, that filled the room. Hinata looked up startled, to see Kosuke playing, biting his lip in concentration. She looked down, and froze, her body becoming rigid. She couldn't leave, because that would make it very obvious that she was avoiding him, but, she _was_ avoiding him, so she desperately wanted to leave. Kosuke stopped, and placed his hands in his lap.

"Do you know the Sakamoto duet?" he asked, looked to her. Hinata suddenly had a recollection of being taught that, quite a while ago, by a cousin. She nodded.

"Only the first bit, though, really…And I can only play the higher part" she said timidly, and Kosuke smiled, and swapped places with her. They started with their hands over lapped, and Kosuke counted them in, him playing a strong hard lower part, and Hinata playing the soft high part. She remembered the story to this vividly.

It was about the town of Sakamoto, which was always in a state of misfortune, and gloom, but continued to receive the beautiful, heavenly snowfall, which would continued to erase the blood stains, and bring peace at the end of the day, and eventually, the snow falling over the bandits attacking the village caused them to freeze, as they were from a warmer country that was unused to the severity of the cold. It sounded nice, and had nice contrast. As Hinata began to falter, and forget the notes, Kosuke stopped, sighing.

"I gave up playing, y'know, a long time ago. But, I've been thinking of teaching Tsuyu how. Playing this sort of has immediate relaxation effects. And he'll need it, to be honest, since Kirigakure wont go easy on him" he sighed again, lowering his head into his hands, and Hinata almost felt sorry for him. She patted his shoulder, unsure of what to say.

"It's my fault really. They'll expect the same results, possibly better, of what I achieved. And its unfair. I blame myself so much sometimes…" he said, staring blankly at the keys.

Hinata had an understanding of what he was saying. Her lack of ability meant Hanabi had to make up for her. Which was almost the same, except, even greater pressure was stuck on her, because, she had the responsibility Hinata was meant to hold. She suddenly felt an arm slung across her shoulders. She froze at the contact, wondering Why Kosuke was suddenly being so close. She wasn't really used to people coming near her. After her mother left, she didn't have much physical contact in the way of hugs and stuff, so she was unused to this. She felt warmth flood into her though, and she felt almost comfortable with him holding onto her.

She realised he all but ignored her when others were around. She also realised she and Kosuke had some sort of weird bond. They were connected. They were both in the same position, in a sense. They both understood each other. Hinata wondered if Kosuke had ever reached out to anyone before in his life. She wondered if she was now his life line, the person he could finally relax with, and spill his most inner emotions to. She realised that he was the same for her, and her stomach fluttered with the possibility of lightening the load of her worry. Her shoulders and spine relaxed, as she settled into him, idly playing a small tune lightly on the piano.

She risked a glance up at him, and found him, unsurprisingly, looking down at her with deep contemplation. She suddenly realised she could see worry in his features too. She straightened, and looked at him questioningly. He shook his head, his left hand resting on a few keys, and his grip on her loosened, and he let go completely, his other hand returning to the piano. Hinata felt cold where his arm was previously, but kept it to herself. She marvelled at the fact they could have silent conversations. Silence was _golden_, in her opinion. And she liked that fact that Kosuke rarely had anything to say. They played again, the Sakamoto piece, and Hinata let Kosuke have free reign, enjoying instead listening to his playing rather than play herself.

--

Kosuke played for her until he heard people approach. He glanced over to her, still playing, and she stood, moving away form him.

"Kosuke! My son! I haven't heard you play in so long! Why the sudden change of heart?" Asa's booming voice called out as he entered the foyer. Kosuke drew to a close, before turning to him.

"Kimi-san plays, we were just doing the Sakamoto duet, and I wandered in to find her playing" he said, and glanced towards Hinata, who nodded. Asa smiled, his face glazing over in memory.

"Ahh, I love that duet. It's a beautiful piece. So, you play, Kimi, very nice, for how long?" Asa asked, and approached Hinata. Kosuke escaped while his father was preoccupied. He wandered through the mansion aimlessly, before heading up to his rock where he'd seen Hinata a few days before. He sighed. He and Shira had a plan to enact, and he had to do it sooner or later. But, every time he tried he chickened out, everything his father taught him to be, caused him to grind to a halt. He shook his head to himself, thinking about _why_ he'd hugged Hinata.

He felt close to her, yes, they had an awful lot in common, and he _had_ needed the comfort just then. He just, hated himself so much, for not being able to protect Tsuyu. He jumped onto the boulder, and settled himself down. He didn't quite remember walking through the forest to get here; he was so deep in thought. He thought about enacting his and Shira's plan, and shivered. He didn't _want _to do it, but, it was for the greater good. Even if he did sabotage things in the process.

--

Hinata sat in the living room, curled up on the cushy sofa, reading a book she had scavenged off of Sakura. It was about herbs, and she was quite enjoying it. Miyuki was ill, and was napping on the sofa opposite, and Hinata stared for a while, watching the baby move inside of her, the skin moving where the baby's elbow was or something. It was truly weird. Sakura was also asleep next to Hinata, as she had been up with Miyuki all night, trying to rid her of her fever. Sakura said Miyuki's illness was not a great worry, but she'd prefer if it had broken before Labour, because it consumed energy, and it wouldn't be great if the contractions stopped because she was too exhausted.

Shira was there, also sat with a book, this one from Shino, and he was reading it with a weird hunger, his eyes darting back and forth. He suddenly looked at her, his eyes shining in wonder.

"Hinata-chan! Did you know about this bug?? Its totally freaky and amazing…!" and he rambled on about a bug that Hinata had little interest in, and had already been told of it's uses by Shino _anyway_, but, she listened politely. Shira picked himself up, and sat next to her, to show her the diagrams. Hinata merely chuckled. This boy, was at least 2 years older than her, but acted like a small child.

Just then, Kosuke entered, strapping something to himself, he looked up, and glanced at Hinata and Shira, both curled up on the sofa staring at a detailed diagram of something similar to a stick insect. He felt anger flare in him; he quickly pushed it away, looking at Sakura, who had jerked awake at the sound of his entrance.

"How is she?" he asked, pointing at Miyuki. Sakura sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"I broke her fever last night, but she still feels sick, and has the whole, feels hot and cold at the same time thing, and is sweating a lot. But, she still has a week, and a bit of fresh air and activity couldn't go amiss" she said, looking at him. Kosuke nodded, and then looked at Shira.

"Town tomorrow then? For Mother. I'm just going out to attend court for some bastard, but, I'll be back around…" he glanced at the clock, which read 3 o'clock, "7-ish, they'll want to hang around and _do things_" he snorted. Shira looked worried, and flashed a glance at Hinata. Kosuke nodded, and mumbled "I'll sort it" reluctantly. Shira just agreed.

Kosuke left quickly, feeling his anger peak as he saw Shira lean over Hinata to show her something from a stupid book. He gritted his teeth, and met with his father, still seething, but worrying about _how_ he was going to fulfil his and Shira's plan.

--

Hinata sat in her room later that night, around 8, and decided she loved this room. It was similar to her room back at the Hyuuga compound, but, it was just so pretty. Her and her team had rooms opposite Asa and his family's room. Hinata's room was just opposite Tsuyu's, who Hinata had yet to properly greet, and was the last one on the row. Next was Sakura, who was opposite Kosuke, and then Shino, who was opposite an empty room, which was to be Kumo's in the future. And Yamato was opposite Asa and Miyuki's room. They were all decent, pretty rooms, and Hinata just loved the desk that was in her room. It was a great big golden pine desk, with intricate rain designs, and cute little drawers. Her room was a powdery light blue, and it had a wooden floor, with a big old rug, designed with the Amaya clan symbol. The large bed was cosy, and warm, and the wardrobe matched the dressed. She had a window too, looking over one of the many courtyards. She could easily jump out and not hurt herself, even though it was the second floor. At night she liked to look out, and breathe in the night air. If she was up late enough, the mist would've rolled away, to show her the breathtaking stars.

She sat, and untangled her hair from a bind, and brushed it without mercy. Her brush was soon full of hairs. Hinata loved her long hair, but it could be a pain. There was a small knock on her door, making Hinata jump. She leapt up, and scurried to the door opening it.

Sakura bustled in, carrying lots of sweets, and food and drink. Shino silently floated in after, followed by Shira. Hinata had noticed Shino and Shira had become quite good friends, shared by their interest in the small and undecipherable. Shira would teach Shino of the forest, and bugs, and little fungi and flowers, and Shino would show Shira his bugs, and tell him about uses of plants that Konoha had.

"Hey Hinata, I felt bad for abandoning you! I've had such fun with Miyuki, and Shino's been with Shira, and we just forgot about you! So, we've come to make up for it! No, no, keep the lights off, we'll light some candles! Why aren't you in your Pyjama's? Quickly, go to the bathroom and get changed!" Sakura said, and plonked the food on Hinata's bed, and bustled around to light candles. Hinata sighed, smiling appreciatively at Sakura. She was so crazy sometimes.

Hinata grabbed her pyjamas and dressing gown, and scurried out of the room, down the cold hallway, and to the bathroom. She heard a sound, a sweet sound, which made her stop halfway there.

It was Miyuki, and she was in her room, humming a lullaby. Hinata's breath caught, as her mother's own Lullaby came flooding back. She could remember it! It was very similar to Miyuki's Lullaby, but Hinata's was sadder, slower. Hinata felt a tear come to her eye, thinking of Miyuki humming to her unborn Kumo, all alone while Asa was away.

She shook her head, and told herself to focus; she was on her way to get changed, after all. She made it to the freezing cold bathroom, and stood for a few seconds, loath to take her clothes off, before sucking in her breath, and stripping quickly, gathering her pyjama's close.

She slipped the tank top over her head, and pulled on her sweats, sighing contentedly. She wondered where Kosuke was. Last she'd heard of him, he was with Asa, doing some sort of court work. Was he a juror or something? She wondered if she should invite him to their little get together? She stepped out of the bathroom, lost in though, and walked straight into a rock hard object hurrying in the other direction.

"Oh, Hinata, sorry" Kosuke's rough voice rumbled from his chest. Hinata blushed, and looked up at him, smiling slightly.

"No, no, I was the one who wasn't playing attention…" she trailed away as she realised Kosuke wasn't listening _again_. She sighed, almost irritated by his lack of response. She could see him shaking his head in his mind, before ignoring her, and asking her a question.

"Have you seen Shira by any chance? He's not in his room, and I've a message for him" he said, holding up a scroll. Hinata glanced down at his clothes, and realised was in some sort of dress Kimono.

"He's in my room. If you're going in you should-" she was cut off as suddenly Kosuke's hand was slammed into the wall next to her head, a flash of annoyance running across his face.

"Ex_cuse_ me? He's in your room? Why?" he demanded, and Hinata backed against the wall, taken aback by his sudden anger.

"W-Well, H-he c-came in w-with…" she trailed away, phased by the smouldering look in Kosuke's dark brown eyes. She watched him visibly grind his teeth together, but she saw him pause. It looked like he made a decision. He suddenly leaned closer, like he had before, but now he was much closer, merely inches away.

"You know, Shira almost 18, he's a tad old for you…" he said quietly, his voice becoming smooth, yet dark. Hinata's breath caught, and froze as he brought his gaze level with her's. Hinata spluttered incoherently, as her head spun as she felt Kosuke's steady breath on her neck. She suddenly felt the need to get away, he was far too close.

"No…" she said in a small voice, and Kosuke raised and eyebrow. Her heart began to thunder wildly in her chest, and she began to hyperventilate.

"…Sorry…I didn't quite catch that…" he said quietly, moving closer, tilting his head towards her. Hinata felt her chakra explode, and her hand flew out, and she hit him in the chest, with the full force of her Jyuuken. Kosuke was thrown back into the opposite wall, coughing and spluttering.

Hinata stood, and caught her breath, clutching at her chest.

"Hinata?" she heard Shira call, and she straightened up, wiping away a sheen of sweat.

"Finally, Hinata. I thought you'd _never_ hit me" Kosuke muttered, when he regained his breath after she winded him.

"W-What?" Hinata stuttered, looking at him in shock. Shira appeared, looking round the corner at them.

"Oh, so you finally did it Kosuke. Good. Come to Hinata's room when you two are finished, we've got a midnight snack!" Shira said happily, disappearing again.

"Sorry Hinata" Kosuke said, and straightened up, grimacing in pain as he clicked the bones in his spine.

"What?" Hinata said, and looked around, deep in confusion.

"Me and Shira planned this" he said, pointing at her, "We thought that if _this situation_, were to happen out in Kirigakure, you would have been, sort of, defenceless. We were worried you would be too shocked to react. We tried to scare you into reacting. I'm sorry" he said, and bowed his head to her briefly, and smiled apologetically.

Hinata's heart tore. So, that day with the piano? That was an _act?_ She felt horribly betrayed. Her muscles tightened, and suddenly her hand flew out and she slapped him as hard as she could muster.

"How…_dare you"_ she said, shaking in anger, lowering her tingling hands slowly. This was the _second_ time she'd slapped Kosuke. His face stayed turned away, his hair slightly shadowing his shocked eyes. "So, th-that day at the p-piano? It. Was. An. _Act?"_ she demanded, gulping down air to stop her tears. Kosuke's head jerked backed to her, and she saw briefly a frightened expression. He crouched so his eyes were level, and his hands grasping her shoulders, his gaze urgent. He shook his head, looking at her with almost pleading eyes.

"No, Hinata, no! Of course _that_ wasn't. Just, when I'd get suddenly close to you, I was trying to do this. I haven't been able to bring myself to do it until now, I'm sorry. But no; with, the piano, I meant everything" he said, lowering his voice, and his eyes casting down to the floor in shame. "I'm sorry, truly, I am. We were just worried though. We just, wait, here" he said, and straightened up, reaching behind him, and pulling out a knife.

She looked at it, and he pulled it out of its sheath. It was a light blue colour at the hilt that faded into white. "It was Shira's fathers, my auntie's husband. It was his when he was very young, but, he never really used it. It's not really worth much, but, it does its job" he said quickly, and handed her the knife.

"Shira said for me to give it to you…" he said, and watched her face for a reaction, half expecting her to take the knife and stab him. He was about to say something else, but stopped himself, letting her absorb everything. Hinata slowly reached out, and grasped the smooth handle of the pretty knife. She picked it up, marvelling at how lightweight it was. It was about 10 inches long, with a dark blue sheath, with red straps to attach to a belt.

"It's beautiful" she said, and gave a slight smile to Kosuke. Relief flooded through Kosuke's features, and Hinata apologised for hitting him.

"No, I _wanted_ you to hit me. I and Shira can rest easy than you'll be safe. We're making a trip down to Kirigakure tomorrow, mother is sick of waiting for Kumo to arrive, and Sakura says she needs the fresh air. Miyuki hopes that the movement will inhibit labour" Kosuke said, and smiled. Hinata blushed, feeling stupid about being so touchy with him. But, she was glad she'd seen Kosuke smile, and that he and Shira would stop acting weird again. She felt offended that they were worried, like she was too weak to protect herself, but, sort of flattered that they'd bother.

They wandered back to Hinata's room, where Sakura had set up a sort of nest on Hinata's double bed with the blankets, and candles were set up. Hinata relaxed and just enjoyed herself. Eventually, they all drifted off, and Hinata sighed contentedly, watching Sakura frown in her sleep, muttering 'Naruto, stupid jutsu…', and saw the rare sight of Shino asleep. She lay back, curling up to Sakura, borrowing her warmth, and Shira's head lolled onto Kosuke's shoulder. Hinata was pretty sure Kosuke wasn't asleep, but, he never moved to remove Shira. Hinata would never have guessed Shira was the older one.

She smiled to herself, feeling saddened that this peacefulness would end in a few months time.

Hinata however, was wrong to worry about the coming months. Kirigakure's splendour was a very convincing mask, designed to hide the true horror's which lay underneath.


	10. Kirigakure's Splendour

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. **

Okay, this chapter is because you made me all so happy posting 3 comments (THREE!!!!) on the same day as i uploaded my story.  
And, because i haven't posted in AGES!!! So, here you go, you beautiful people!!

**WARNING!!!!: This chapter is the reason why this Story is put as MATURE!!!**

**It contains descriptions of a graphic nature, and Scenes of Rape, and swearing. **

**Okay? don't say i didn't warn you!!!**

* * *

**Chapter 10; Kirigakure's Splendour.**

Hinata awoke to sounds of bed springs creaking. She looked up to see Kosuke standing fluidly. Hinata shifted, and his eye's flickered to her. She smiled, and he nodded to her, before stretching clicking his back, and she noticed the tiniest of winces.

"Kosuke-kun, are you hurt?" Hinata whispered, frightened her Jyuuken had caused more damage than she had originally thought. Kosuke considered her for a second, before giving a grim smile.

"No, just, a bit sore from yesterday…" he said slowly, and shrugged, "nothing I can't handle".

"Still, maybe I should take a look at it" Sakura said sleepily, sitting up, and brushing crumbs off her. Shino and Shira then stirred, not bothering to pretend to be asleep anymore. Kosuke shrugged, and sat back down, pulling off his shirt. Hinata gasped at the blue bruise that had formed where she had hit him. Maybe her physical hit had hurt him too, because usually Jyuuken was more of an internal damage. Sakura gently traced her hands round the bruise and over his ribs with feather fingers that glowed green. Her eyes narrowed.

"Why did Hinata use her Jyuuken on you?" she asked, looking up at him, then at Hinata. Kosuke laughed, looking at Hinata with a warning glance for a second, making her shut up and not reply.

"I scared her last night. She came out of the bathroom, and I walked right into her. She sort of whipped round and Jyuuken-ed me. That's when you appeared Shira, that's why I was doubled over and coughing" he said, casting a small smile to Shira, who laughed.

"I thought something was off, but I just assumed that you were coughing up your internal organs or something" he said, standing clicking a few joints.

"Oh, and you weren't concerned?" Kosuke said wincing a bit as Sakura applied pressure on his bruise.

"Nah, there was biscuits I was missing! I wasn't gonna bother about you! Now, I'm going to get some breakfast back at my house. I'll see you later in town" he said, and quickly disappeared out the door. Shino excused himself shortly after to go get dressed. Sakura sighed, and stood when she'd finished.

"I'm going to change, Hinata, I'll see you later. Be careful with yourself Kosuke-san" she said, bowed her head shortly, and disappeared. Hinata looked at Kosuke a bit sheepishly.

"Really, I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you so badly. And it was against the mission rules! I'm not meant to use anything ninja like at all until we're under definitive attack!..." Hinata rambled her apologies for a while, before Kosuke hushed her by ruffling her hair.

"Makes no mind to me, Hinata. I apologise for compromising you. Just, please, bring all manner of hidden weapons with you to Kirigakure. It's a rough place, and you might need it, but, I'm hoping that if you stick close to me, no one will bother" he said, and flashed a quick smile, before standing. "Meet us all outside later, and then we'll go down into Kirigakure".

---------

After meeting up with everyone at midday, and walking down about a million steps from the Amaya complex into Kirigakure, they finally ended up on the Kirigakure high street. Hinata couldn't be sure, but she _thought_ the mist wasn't as heavy as normal. She gasped as she looked around at the spectacular lights and commotion of Kirigakure. It was nothing like Konoha. The buildings were tall, instead of wide, they were dirty, uncared for, but lived in, their tops hidden by mist. The main street was a wide road, lit by sun yellow lamps, and people milled around everywhere, just normal farmers, with a few off duty ninja's. Hinata couldn't see them, but she knew there were Ninja watching this high street.

She looked around in awe, and at the large stalls that lined the street, and looked dubiously into the dark alleyways that were given a wide berth by everyone. The noise was incredible. People shouting, laughing, arguing, children playing, and running, playing in the strange gutters that carried water everywhere throughout the streets, crisscrossing and gouging paths in the streets.

Hinata laughed, removing her arm form Miyuki's firm grip to look closer at a jeweller's stall.

"Kimi! Stay close!" Miyuki called, glancing over her shoulder at Hinata. Hinata smiled and nodded, but wasn't worried about loosing her. Miyuki was due in a week's time, and she was _very pregnant_, so subsequently could not move very fast, plus she was ill. Sakura was stuck to Miyuki like glue, and Kosuke in turn stayed very close.

"Come now Kimi, best not to stray from the group" Shira said, approaching her with Shino. Hinata smiled at them, her eyes gleaming with wonder.

Another thing about the mist, it kept the heat in, which made the high street very warm. Hinata had to take off her coat, it was almost tropical. She tied the coat round her waist, and began to fan herself as their group headed further down the street, which opened out onto a spectacular plaza, with a large fountain in the centre of it.

People and children milled into the water of the fountain, playing happily, and this is where Miyuki finally sat, on the low wall of the fountain dipping her legs into the cool water. Hinata splashed her face, but was desperate to see more stalls.

"Shino, Shira? Can we please go over there?" she said, excitement brimming over as she looked towards a very inviting smell that was wafting over.

They went over, and bought little bred rolls, shaped like a banana, which were slightly sticky, and hollow. They were called _croissants_. A white gleam caught Hinata's eye, and she drifted over to the next stall from the baker's, another jewellery stand. She looked down at the heavy looking necklace, with a white stone set into silver for a pendant. She gasped, suddenly reminded of her mother as she gazed at this necklace.

"Yes, that's a very pretty necklace, miss" a warm male voice said. Hinata looked up, to see a scarred man, with wavy brown hair, and shining green eyes looking at her.

"Y-yes, it's very beautiful" she said, looking at the necklace again.

"Uh huh, and I've never seen anyone who'd suit it at all, bar you right now. No one has the right complexion here. But you're very pale, are you from out of town?" the man queried in a harmless voice. Team Yamato had pre-decided they'd tell their story if anyone asked, and not act mysterious about it.

"Y-yes, I'm from Konoha, visiting relatives…" she said, smiling. The man quirked an eyebrow.

"Relatives…?" he asked, leaning closer to her. She nodded, and looked around nervously.

"We're not really supposed to say, but, we're related to the Amaya clan, do you know of them?" Hinata asked, feigning innocence. The man looked shocked, but the laughed.

"Yes, you wouldn't want any rouge ninja knowing that, but, people who work the stalls are usually trustworthy. What's your name?" he asked, and Hinata grinned at him.

"Aoko Kimi, pleased to meet you!" she said, bowing her head. The man smiled, and looked as if he was about to tell her his name, but someone from the other side of the stall called for him. He held up a finger, and moved to the other end of his stall to serve a customer.

Hinata sighed, and moved to look at the other wares, wondering it she could afford anything. Certainly not the necklace, but, perhaps matching earrings? She would _love_ to get Hanabi something, something that reminded Hinata of their mother, so she could know too what she was like. Hinata sighed as she reached the end of his stall. And leaned closer to look at a lovely red and golden bracelet that reminded her of Kosuke.

Hinata suddenly straightened, and looked around, realising she was alone. She calmed though, as she saw Miyuki still at the fountain, laughing at Sakura. Hinata smiled, and moved forward to enter the crowd_. I wonder if Kosuke will tell me off for wanderin-_

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as pain flared in the side of her head, a reeking hand forced over her mouth, and she was dragged backwards into the depths of an alleyway she had failed to notice.

-------

Shino looked around, about to ask Hinata what she thought of the croissant.

He couldn't see her.

She can't have gone far.

His heart stopped when he saw an abandoned half eaten croissant on the floor, trampled, and a man suddenly leap over his jewellery stand, look horrified into the depths of the alleyway, turn, and shout at the top of his lungs;

"AMAYA!"

---------

Kosuke whipped round when he'd heard the call, but stopped himself from reacting immediately; reminding himself he was off duty. He looked over and connected eyes with Shira, wondering if he should react. The fear in Shira's eyes made Kosuke's mind reel. He saw Shira's mouth twitch, then he mouthed one word.

_Hinata._

Kosuke turned to Sakura, "Hinata's missing, stay here and look after Miyuki" he said, and jumped into the air, and over the crowd, shouting the Shira.

"S-49, protect Amaya mistress, and _Do Not Move From Your Position! _Take the Aoko boy with you!" he landed heavily, and looked at the jeweller. He just pointed into the alleyway, too shocked to speak.

Kosuke sprinted down the alley, but he had to stop. He wasn't on duty. And he couldn't arrest someone simply for a kidnapping. If everyone who kidnapped someone in Kirigakure was sent to jail, their jails would overflow. They needed a more serious offence. He slowed as he approached a corner. He went into stealth mode, and stole into the shadows, looking round the corner.

His stomach twisted in rage, and he had to forcefully stop himself from jumping out and killing everyone in sight. He saw Hinata's knife discarded on the floor, her shoulder slashed and bleeding, her eyes wide and frightened. Kosuke could feel her chakra peaking and being pushed down.

Even now, she was protecting her mission. There were two men, one had a knife to Hinata's throat, and a hand clamped over her mouth. He was hulking, disgusting looking with scars, and Kosuke could smell his unwashed filthy body from where he was standing. He was just a small time person; the other man was higher in the ranks.

The other man was obviously a ninja. He inspected Hinata like she was a piece of meat, or a cow to be sold.

"She looks foreign. They don't make them _like that_ round here, I can assure you. Her…_assets_ alone are probably three times the size of the midgets round here" he said, his voice gravelly, and his face leering, as he chuckled evilly to himself. Hinata let out a moan of despair, to which the ninja slapped her hard.

"She'll do, the boss will pay good money for her. Bring her" he said, and her took out rope, to which he bound Hinata's hands. Kosuke could feel her chakra begin to boil up, but, she gave out a small sob, and it dropped. Kosuke could feel her resolve fading away.

He didn't want to let her just be taken away, but, he couldn't _not_. If he intervened now, these men would simply be given a slap on the wrists, and be sent on their way. He needed a bigger charge, to get these bastards in jail, so he'd have to wait.

The Ninja forced some fabric into Hinata's mouth, and she tried to bite him, which made him punch her again. Then he bound her mouth tightly with fabric.

"Feisty, ain't she? They'll pay good money, right?" the first man said, and he followed the Ninja. The Ninja just shrugged, and then turned quickly, striking down the man, his blood spurting everywhere.

"To me, yes" he said, laughing, and then took off. Kosuke took a deep breath to steady his anger, and waited 5 minutes. He then sped after the man.

-------------

Hinata looked up at the Ninja, who had dumped her onto some flimsy cushions. He was grinning at some men she couldn't see. There was a bright light right above her, and the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness and smoke. The smell of cigarettes weighed heavily in the air.

_'Will be raped as soon as they look at you' _the words of Asa resonated in her mind again, and she shivered in revulsion. If they did that in prison…She gave out a chocked sob, her sound muffled by the disgusting tasting fabric in her mouth. She was sure, for a moment back in the alley, that Kosuke was there, to save her. But when he didn't turn up, her resolve to fight collapsed.

She should be more like Naruto and fight. But she couldn't. She shouldn't be so weak, and she should stop failing her father. But she couldn't. She simply couldn't. She couldn't show any ninja powers. She could struggle, and fight, but when they had knives, and she had nothing, her will to even try fell through her grasp. She felt an ache in her chest as she remembered she'd lost her knife from Kosuke. Her shoulder and hand still stung from where that disgusting smelling man had slashed her. He was dead now though, his blood probably trickling over her knife.

"A fine specimen. Foreign, good body" came a silky, drunk sounding voice. "She will make a fine addition to our little party. A Celebration tonight of our plans for this country. Amaya will fall, I promise you. Here, your money, now go away" and with that a package was thrown at the Ninja, and he disappeared without a look back.

"Lights down fella's, I get the foreign one, and just enjoy yourselves. Y'know? We hardly ever get to enjoy ourselves anymore!" the silky voice said, and the light above Hinata suddenly flickered out of life, and it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the low cadlelight. She looked around, bile threatening in her throat, as she saw girls in chains everywhere, and loads of drunk, sick looking men, all with the same leering look. Hinata looked up fearfully to this boss person, and Hinata tried to tune out the moans of the men, and the sobs of the women.

"Oh, you're _young_. Lucky me" he said, and Hinata tried to back away. He was tall, built like a tank, and he had his sword over his shoulder, which had dried blood on it. He had the same look as the others. He suddenly dropped to one knee, a hand going out, and roughly handling her chin, pulling her close. Her silky hair swung back. How silly it seemed now, for her to be so concerned about her hair, so long ago last night? How silly of her to react so violently to Kosuke's closeness, when this was _actually_ happening to her. Her thoughts turned sadly to Neji and her father. What on earth would they think? And what would happen to Hanabi. Hinata took a sharp intake of breath and the man roughly grabbed her breast, and pulled her hair back so she lay back on the floor.

"Just relaaxxx. You should be honoured it's _me._ Some of the other guys like to slice their prey up a bit before, but, I don't, I like them all smooth, and dry…" he said, running a calloused hand over Hinata's stomach. She gave out an involuntary muffled cry and tears streamed from her eyes. Her body tightened, preparing for the inevitable onslaught.

"Oh, you're probably a _virgin_ too. Never thought of that. This is going to hurt, Hime, but, I'll try to be _gentle"_ he said, and used a knife to tear her pants away. Hinata's form racked in a sob, as the man ravaged her throat with his teeth and tongue, and forced her legs to open. She cried out desperately, trying to form words but unable. She screwed her eyes shut, tensing her muscles against him. She heard the man chuckle, and felt him thrust forward. She screamed as he entered her, but her sound was muffled, her eyes flying open, her muscles jerking involuntarily, the pain exploding up her. Her body twisted as she desperately tried to push away from him.

"Now, now behav-guh!" he was stopped mid sentance, and suddenly, Hinata couldn't feel him anywhere on herself anymore. She immediately curled into a ball, and screamed again into the fabric in her mouth, tears flooding down her face, not caring about anything, just half glad he wasn't near her.

--------------

Kosuke watched in revulsion the entire exchange between men. He prowled silently in as the lights dimmed, and watch in horror as the man handled Hinata. His rage building, until he was forced to shut his eyes. He clawed at the carpet underneath him, to keep himself still, and very nearly reacted when the man said 'virgin', and his entire body coiled tight, ready to spring when her heard him slobber all over Hinata. When she screamed though, he could hold himself back no longer.

He jumped up, and roundhouse kicked the man in the face, and hit a pressure point, before using his speed to knock out, and round up every member of this horrific…_rape-house._ He was only pushed to work harder to capture these men when Hinata's muffled screams echoed hauntingly in his mind. He stopped when all the men had been knocked unconscious, and found the light. The 15 or so women scattered around the room, all barely half naked, and blinking, looks of gratitude all echoed in their faces towards him.

"Err, girls, you're okay now, I'll be calling ANBU here soon, so, collect whatever clothing you've got, and, yeah, you'll be taken to hospital…" he trailed off, his eyes glued to the floor, and he began to roughly move the men to where he had left the Ninja who delivered Hinata, after intercepting him on his way out this sick establishment.

He finally turned to Hinata's form, curled in the foetal position on the floor her arms still tied behind her, shivering and sobbing. A woman suddenly appeared next to him, looking down at Hinata. The woman had wrapped herself in a coat she had found.

"If you're close to her, you can try and talk to her, but, if not, try not to touch her. She'll be pretty scarred for a while" she said, shaking her head in pity for Hinata. Kosuke nodded, and approached her form. He winced when he saw purple bruises beginning to form on her neck, and blood was seeping across her legs from where she had been violated.

Kosuke looked away, as guilt began to claw at his insides. He quickly grabbed a blanket and threw it over her lower half, as her pants were now ruined. He knelt down, and put out a shaking hand, and touched her. Hinata jerked away violently, her cries starting again, her eyes screwed shut, and her legs curling up as close to her chest as she could make them. Kosuke was about to speak, but, instead, he cleared his throat, controlled his own shivering, and made his voice soft.

"Hinata…It's me, Kosuke. It's alright, you're safe now, please let me untie you…" he said, and she saw her visibly freeze, before opening her eyes. She looked at him, and nodded. He moved quickly in untying her, not being able to bear it. Once her arms were free, she reached up, removing the fabric from her mouth, spitting, and placing her hands on her face, before sobbing more. Kosuke, not sure what else he could do, stood, and went to the door. He raised his hand to his face, placed his fingers to his Lips, and gave a shrill whistle, unique to himself. He waited a few seconds, before two ANBU landed. His subordinates.

"You two, these men are to be arrested for the kidnapping, rape, and assault of 16 women, one of whom is an ally from Konoha, and are to be interrogated for illicit mutinous activities. The female's will need support, and taken to the hospital" he said with authority. He could feel the questions they were dying to ask, like, how had he stumbled across this? Why was he working when he wasn't actually on-duty? But, he waved them off, as they set to work.

He turned to see Hinata had sat up, and was looking at him. His insides tore themselves apart again. He dropped to his knees, unable to bear the weight of guilt. He could've spared her this. There was more than enough evidence with the first 15 women that he needn't have let it proceed longer that it did. He punched the ground, and ground his teeth together, growling in frustration as he held himself back from tearing the man who did this to her apart with his bare hands. He felt a light hand touch his head, and his head jerked up.

Hinata was actually looking at him with concern. His body shivered, his muscles clenched, and his insides turned in a knot, as he forced himself not to scream, shout, rampage, kill and hurt things. She looked at him, the blue colorant in her eyes faded now with all the crying, leaving her eyes an icy white. They x-rayed him, and his fists clenched and unclenched with his fury at himself. Just then the medics arrived, and he stood fluidly to greet them.

"Kosuke Amaya-san! Your mother, Miyuki-sama has gone into labour! It seems she began to exert herself, and the stress caused her waters to break. You must go quickly!"

* * *

So. There you go.

Goodbye to HeartBrokenHinata, WellITriedSoManyOptions, and Green Cat Claw.

Ilse.

* * *


	11. Kirigakure's Hospital

**Chapter 11: Kirigakure's Hospital**.

Hinata sat up when she felt Kosuke's presence leave, and watched him call the Ninja. When he turned to her, she saw his eyes look at her with a helpless expression, and he fell to the floor. Alarmed, she crawled over to her, ignoring the pain, and patted his head. He looked at her, with all the frustration within him showing clearly on his face. That's when the medic Ninja arrived. That's when Kosuke panicked.

He looked at the Medic ninja frozen for a second, and then he spun round to Hinata. He scooped her up, ignoring her winces and revulsion at his touch, and sped out into the street. He navigated easily a maze of side streets, before bursting out onto the Plaza with the fountain. Hinata looked around, shielding her eyes from the light intensity, and jerked round in Kosuke's grasp as she heard the distinctive yell of Yamato.

Kosuke heard it too, and took off sprinting towards him. He jerked to a halt, and Hinata felt him dump her in Yamato's grasp. She froze, uncomfortable with her current situation, but, didn't have time to asses it as Kosuke ordered Yamato to follow him. Kosuke parted the crowds with shouts of "Amaya emergency! MOVE!", and led them to the tall building Hinata assumed to be the Hospital by the concentration of Chakra. By now, every part of her was aching, and she had the overpowering desire to scrub herself down. Kosuke bounded up to the desk, and pointed at Hinata.

"She and 15 other women, who are to arrive here, are all rape victims. I want the _full_ proper procedure, okay? Definitely on this one, and on as many as the other 15 as you can, okay?" the nurse nodded, looking sadly at Hinata. "Okay, where is Miyuki Amaya?" he asked again urgently, turning the full force of his desperate gaze on her. Hinata remembered when he'd shouted at her the very first time she'd met him, and it was so intimidating it made you _want_ to obey.

"Er, 3rd floor, room 65…" she said, and Kosuke disappeared completely, and papers flew off the desk in the wind he made.

"Kimi…" Yamato said slowly, looking down at her with an undecipherable expression. Hinata looked up carefully, fighting the urge to wriggle out of his grasp. "Was…Kosuke telling the…truth…? Were you…?" his voice trailed away, and Hinata felt her throat close up. She looked down, and gave a sharp nod, before letting out a few choked sobs. Suddenly, she felt Shino and Sakura. They must've been with Miyuki, and come to find her when Kosuke turned up. Sakura was out of breath, they must've really run.

"Hina-Kimi!" Sakura gasped, and flung her arms round Hinata. Hinata winced in pain, and Sakura frowned, and reached out to check her out. Hinata pushed her hand away, not wanting Sakura to know. "N-No, w-we should w-wait. Th-they have t-to d-do something w-with me first. A p-procedure or s-something…" Hinata said meekly, as Medic ninja burst in behind her, just as doctors appeared in front of her. "You! Aoko Kimi! You're up first!"

----------

Kosuke flew up the corridor, towards his mother's room. He skidded to a halt as he heard her agonised cry. He saw Sakura and Shino. Sakura stood outside, but she didn't look worried. She just had a look of sympathy as she watched the door which was the room for him. Sakura looked round at Kosuke, and smiled. "Normal behaviour for labour. Where's Hinata?" she asked, looking behind him as if expecting her to show up.

"Well, _Yuuna_, she's downstairs with your father. She'll need to stay in hospital for a while" he said, and saw Sakura turn white, and moved out the way as Shino flashed past him.

"Slowly! This is a hospital!" he called after them, and saw Sakura sprint after him, at a pace acceptable for famers. He took a deep breath, and opened the door to his mother's room.

His father was at one end of the room, pacing, Tsuyu, looking worn and tired, was sat in a chair, watching anxiously his mother, who lay on the bed her face screwed up in pain. Kosuke stood frozen, knowing there was nothing he could do to help this along. Finally his mother's face cleared, and she rubbed her swollen stomach with love.

"I wish the contractions would even out. They're not steady at all! Its getting really annoying, I've bin in here for over an hour!" she complained, and the doctor at hand merely smiled.

"Every woman's labour is different, but, if yours is the same as the last two" he shot looks at Kosuke and Tsuyu, "you better settle in for a long ride, because, this baby will be in no hurry, _like the last two"_ he said, shaking his head. Tsuyu grinned sheepishly, but Kosuke just nodded.

Asa approached Miyuki, and kissed her head, before sitting heavily on a chair beside her bed.

"I hate this. I hated it the first 2 times, but now it's worse than last time, because it was induced by stress! _And_, you're still unwell! You don't have the full strength to hold out for the time that it took Kosuke and Tsuyu to be born!" Asa said, lowering his head into his right hand, his left fist clenching and unclenching in frustration. Miyuki laughed;

"Oh, shush. So what if I fall asleep? I'll just be tired Asa dear, nothing bad will happen! I've done this twice, like you said, so it's usually shorter the more experience you have, right? So, stop your _worrying_. Now, Kosuke, what the hell's wrong with you?" His mother demanded, in the only way a mother could.

Kosuke suddenly was aware he was wearing a foul expression, and was stood there tense and unmoving. He looked at Miyuki, then at Asa, who was looking at him interested.

"Hinata" Kosuke said shortly, and then groaned in self loathing, crouching down suddenly, placing his face in his hands.

"Is she alright?" Miyuki asked her voice gentle.

"She'll live" Kosuke said, his voice muffled by his hands.

"Then what's the problem?" Asa asked, shifting a bit in his chair.

"Because! I let…I let…" he trailed off, then growled in utter frustration, before spitting out his words, "I let her get raped for the sake of putting the men in jail! I could've stopped them a hundred times, but I didn't! I could've spared her this! I could've spared myself this! There was enough evidence in that room with the 15 other women who were being raped for me to put them all in jail, but, I was… So. _Angry._"

He curled tighter in on himself, clenching his jaw, listening to the shock of his mother father, and the slight confusion of Tsuyu.

"You had to get the evidence. That's your job. If it wasn't Hinata, you wouldn't have found them in the first place, because it just would've been some other random girl, and she'd be there now. You made a mistake by leaving it for so long, but, Hinata will understand. She will. She's not one to hold a grudge" Asa said, with the cold certainty of a leader who made difficult choices.

"_No_, because, she didn't have to be raped, but I let it happen!" Kosuke said, his voice laced with terrible guilt.

"You're talking as if you planned the rape, and that everything is all your fault. Because it's not. You didn't rape her, so you're not the one to blame. Those men who you've caught, are the ones to blame" Miyuki said, before sucking in her breath in pain.

Kosuke's head snapped up and watching his mother struggle with the pain. When it faded, she looked at Asa.

"How long?"

"5 minutes" Asa said, smiling slightly

"What?? The last one, was like half a minute apart! This totally is messed up. Goodness Kumo, you're being awfully unstable!" Miyuki said her voice happy as she leaned forward to put her head closer to the baby that lay inside of her. Kosuke smiled. He felt like being alone. But, he waited with his mother, unable to drift off or nap, not with his mother suffering.

-------

6 O'clock pm

Hinata was wheeled into her room, feeling very _very_ unclean. She had hated that rape evidence collector. This doctor had to examine every inch of her, and take saliva samples from her bruises. It took nearly two hours! Hinata tried to move, but every inch of her screamed in protest. She looked at Sakura pleadingly, and Sakura helped her up and out of bed. Her pelvis and tops of legs literally burned as she hobbled to the bathroom, thanking Sakura. She got in the bath, enjoying the warmth. She realised that the full weight of the situation had yet to reach home, but, she was happy in this strange bliss like trance.

But, her bliss had yet to stop her scrubbing her entire body red raw. When she finally heaved herself from her bath, her skin was pink, but raw over her neck, breasts, stomach and legs. She still felt repulsed by herself, but, she knew she was clean. She wrung out her hair, and dressed herself in hospital pyjama's, before coming out of the bathroom, approximately half an hour after she had went in. Sakura had made frequent visits to Miyuki, but, she was still there where Hinata appeared again.

Hinata hobbled to her bed, and climbed under the covers grateful to lie down. It just hurt to stand or walk. Just then, Kosuke walked in, his expression haggard, worn and abused, carrying a sleeping Tsuyu.

"Sorry to interrupt, but, Tsuyu couldn't sleep in mother's room, and he's desperately tired, but refuses to return to the Mansion. Can he sleep on that sofa? I'd feel better if he was here" he said, addressing Hinata. Hinata simply smiled and nodded. She didn't really want to talk, especially since she's damaged something screaming so much.

"Right, now you're here Kosuke, tell us exactly what happened to Hinata. And why exactly, has she been raped? And don't give me that shocked look. She hobbling around, and had nearly scrubbed her own skin off! Look at her! She's salmon pink she scrubbed that hard!" Sakura demanded, her anger exploding over. Kosuke looked at her, and sighed, sitting, placing Tsuyu down on the sofa.

"You don't miss a thing, Yuuna. Very well, I'll tell you what happened" he said, his tone ending in a disgusted note. As he recalled his story, Hinata stared blankly at the roof, and Sakura became more and more disgusted. When he'd finished, she was staring at Kosuke in utter hatred.

"You…Didn't save her, for that reason…?" she demanded quietly, her voice slow and deliberate. Kosuke held his breath, and gave a tiny nod. Suddenly Sakura was in front of him, and had punched him as hard as she could muster. Kosuke felt pain explode across his face, but, he didn't even attempt to block. It felt good for someone to punish him, to blame him, instead of saying that it wasn't his fault.

"Sakura, calm" Shino's stoic voice called, and Sakura looked at him appalled.

"You're taking _his_ side??" she demanded, and Shino sighed,

"Let me explain" and he told her the same thing that Asa had told Kosuke. If it wasn't Hinata now, with the men _off_ the street, it was another 10 women along with the first 15, with the men still performing these horrid deeds, steadily becoming worse in their sins. Sakura stopped, and her intelligence caught up with her, and she gave an exasperated sigh, glaring at Kosuke, but without the accusation. Kosuke merely looked down at Tsuyu's sleeping form, staying quiet.

"What else did you want, Kosuke?" Shino asked, and Kosuke sighed, looking up at him.

"For a favour. Yamato's already agreed, but, has said that I need your permission too. I and Asa being unavailable at the Mansion is a huge loss in strength, and Asa suggested that I ask you to take our place up there until Miyuki has given birth. Just during the night. During the day, I'll have the strength increased, to make up for our loss, so you can visit Hinata. But please, can you make your way back to Amaya mansion, before the sun sets" he asked, his eyes pleading with them. Shino nodded immediately, but Sakura was torn. She looked at Hinata, who was still staring at the roof. Sakura approached her zombie form, and touched her head lightly. Hinata jumped, and smiled at Sakura.

"You should go up" she said, her voice croaky. Sakura gently touched her, green emanating from her fingertips. Kosuke nearly stopped her, but she pulled away, leaving the visible bruises un-healed. She needed not to use her medic ninjutsu, and let the hospital medics care for Hinata. So they didn't suspect ninja abilities from the Konoha ninja. Hinata smiled and waved them off, before turning to Kosuke. Kosuke looked at her for a second, before turning his gaze to Tsuyu.

"You should sleep, you're probably tired. I'll probably try to sleep too, in a minute" he said, and gently brushed Tsuyu's hair back. Hinata just nodded, and settled into the bed, and Kosuke watched her fall asleep in seconds.

Kosuke went out onto the corridor, and caught the attention of a frazzled looking nurse.

"Excuse me, but why hasn't Kimi-san been healed?" he asked, and the nurse looked at him blankly, before groaning putting her hand to her head.

"I'm so sorry, Amaya-san, we're trying our best, but with 15 rape victims, and at least 2 hours for every exam, we're only able to do 3 at a time, and with no time for healings! I'm sorry, I'll get to it right away!" she said, and tried to bustle past him. He sighed, and grabbed her shoulder, and pushed her back out.

"She's asleep now. You finish the exams, and come back in the morning. You have a hectic 6 hours ahead of you, so leave the healings till the next shift; you'll be in no fit state to use your chakra later. Okay? Now, go" Kosuke said and sighed as she blushed, stammered, and hurried away.

He went back in, and settled in a chair. It was lovely and _quiet_. And Kosuke was very soon dozing off.

He awoke around midnight to the sound of Tsuyu calling out softly for their father. He jerked upright, and swiftly knelt down next to the sofa, touching Tsuyu's head softly.

"It's okay, little man, we're in the hospital. We're in Hinata-san's room, were its nice and quiet. You should sleep more, so you're wide awake for when Kumo arrives" he said softly, stroking Tsuyu's hair. He could just about make out Tsuyu's pale blue eyes, just like their mothers, through the dim light. He had his mother's eyes, but his father's hair and personality. His hair was a rich brown colour with gold and red streaks, like Kosuke. Tsuyu just nodded, but looked at Kosuke expectantly. Kosuke sighed, and bundled Tsuyu up close to him, sitting on the sofa. It didn't take long for Tsuyu to fall back to sleep.

Once Kosuke was sure that Tsuyu was deep asleep, he carefully shifted him onto the sofa, and stood. He walked silently to Hinata, inspected how asleep she was, and when he was satisfied she was deep asleep, he stole out the room, and ran up to His mother's room, the floor above. He could hear her shouts echoing down the hall; hear her cursing to the high heavens. Yet, when he went in, there was no sign of a baby coming out of her, the pain just contractions.

"2 Minutes, looks like they've evened out now" came Asa's tired voice. Kosuke took a deep breath, knocked, and entered. Miyuki looked round, a fire in her eyes, but it died when she saw it was Kosuke.

"What? Is Tsuyu alright? What brings you up here at this time?" she demanded, her tone irritable.

"I came to check on progress. Tsuyu is fine, I just got him back off to sleep, as he'd woken up for a time. I've left him in Hinata's room" he said, and went over to Miyuki.

"Well, good. As you can see, still no baby! I swear, if my children were born _any_ slower, I'd be an old lady before I popped the last one out!" she said, lying back, huffing. She looked awfully tired. Tsuyu was born when Kosuke was 11, so, he didn't have much recollection of that time, as he was busy becoming a Chuunin. But, he never remembered her being this tired with Tsuyu. She seemed close to defeat.

"Kosuke, don't just stand there with that stupid look on your face! Do something useful, and get a doctor in here, so I can get this baby out!" Miyuki barked, and Kosuke jumped at her venom. He nodded, as if taking an order from a higher ranking officer, and disappeared to find the doctor.

-----------

When Kosuke finally made it back to Hinata's room, he was wide awake, with no prospect of falling asleep again. The doctor said that she was only 3 centimetres dilated, so, there was no hope of a baby right now. That just made Miyuki angrier, so Kosuke soon fled.

He checked Hinata again, and saw she was less asleep than last time, because her eyes were moving under the lids, and her muscles kept twitching. He dreaded what she was dreaming about, but, she made no noise, so he didn't think it could be _that_ bad. He settled himself on the chair, but found himself surprisingly tired. Maybe he could sleep for a little while longer…

------------

Kosuke jerked awake by the sound of a frightened gasp, and a yelp. He kept his eyes shut though, not wanting Hinata to know he was awake. Give her a bit of time to adjust before talking to her. He listened to her agonized whimpers, her sobs, and heard her shift, jump off her bed and hurry to the bathroom. He sighed, and stood, going after her, hurrying as he heard her throw up. He kneeled by her side, making as much noise as possible, and scraped her hair back, that she was futilely trying to keep out of her way. He held her hair, and rubbed her back, till she had nothing left in her stomach, and was just retching, her body wishing to reject anything. She eventually stopped, and Kosuke gave her a cloth to wipe her mouth with. He looked around for a glass, or something, and remembered the glass and jug of water on her bedside table. He jumped up, and hurried to retrieve water for her.

The water in the jug was warm, so Kosuke, who looked around worriedly, before muttering the words for his Jutsu. As he poured, the water cooled leaving it icy cold, and he hurried back to give it to Hinata. He bit his lip, wondering if anyone had seen that. But, at the moment, he failed to care.

Hinata took the glass, and drained half of it easily. She shivered, sitting with her back against the wall. She then sipped it slowly. Kosuke gulped, wondering what the hell he should do. He backed away from her to the other side of bathroom, and stared at the tiles, biting his lip. He could feel Hinata's gaze, but he just couldn't bring himself to look at her. Movement caught his eye, as he saw Hinata begin to struggle to her feet. She didn't seem to be in as much pain as yesterday when she was hobbling around, but she still grimaced as she stood. Kosuke stood too, and put a hand out to steady her. But his muscles tensed and his arm stopped short as he thought of how she'd react to that.

So he simply hovered his hand over her, until she went back to her bed. She climbed in silently, never uttering a sound. Kosuke was a bit worried, and he looked at the door, deciding he'd tell the nurse she'd been sick.

"Kosuke Amaya-san…" her weak voice called out. Kosuke's head snapped back to her, as she sat up on the edge of her bed, staring at the floor.

"Yes, Hinata-san…?" he said, unsure as to whether he was allowed to call her Hinata anymore.

"You…You…" she said, then her eyes went up to him, and he felt his insides tear themselves apart, when he looked into the eyes of, what he felt, to be the saddest girl in the world.

"You've made me feel so horrible, Kosuke. I hate it. I hate everything. I hate myself, I hate my body, and I hate men. But, I'm not a person who hates things, so, I'm tearing myself apart. I can't stand this. I want to be free of it, and I've only really been captured for 15 minutes! It's only just, sort of, hit me. You left me; it's just like that time, when I was really young. I was stolen away, he was also disgusting smelling, he also hit me to keep me quiet. But, that time, my father came bounding after me. My father! I was so happy that day, when he saved me…" she paused, glanced away, and then looked back, a small realisation in her eyes.

"You were there, weren't you? I was so sure I felt your presence…But, when you didn't show, all hope was just _lost_. I hate you for it. But, I hate myself too, for not being able to stand up for myself, for relying on everyone else to come and save me! I'm so weak!" she looked away, and cried silently for a while. Kosuke felt anger and self loathing in himself as she said she hated him.

"Yet, I can't get angry" she said, and her hands dropped uselessly into her lap, and she struggled to lie down. "I've never gotten real angry at anyone ever before in my life. I was trained to be obedient, and to take all sorts of crap, and I can't get angry. I really want to sit here, seething, hating you. No. I don't hate, not really. I'm not sure I hate everything. I'm almost certain I don't hate you, although, it relieves me to say it. No…" Hinata was by now, mumbling more to herself, than to Kosuke.

He slowly advanced to her, and stood about a foot away from her bed, very unsure about himself. "Kosuke, sit" she said, and patted the bed next to her. He looked at her, and realised she looked very tired, despite having slept for 6 hours already. He obeyed her, like he would a higher ranking person, and looked at her, trying to convey in his face the guilt he felt. But, it was hard for him, because displaying emotions was never something he was allowed to do. He understood Hinata when she talked about "Learned personality traits".

He jumped as he felt her hand on his arm, and she was frowning at her hand, as if confused as to why it was there. "I can touch you, I guess…" she muttered, and her face cleared, but she didn't move her hand, and was still staring at it. Kosuke lifted his free arm, and hovered his hand above her head. "May I?" he finally said quietly, and found his throat and mouth were dry, and his voice croaked out. She considered him for a moment, before nodding.

He gently touched her forehead, a light feather touch with his fingertips, and she didn't wince or flinch, so he laid his palm on her forehead checking her temperature. To his surprise she closed her eyes against his hand, sighing.

"You're nice and cold…" she said absently, and Kosuke felt his mouth quirk into a smile. She must be really tired. She was a bit warm, but he decided against opening the window. When his hand was warm, he sighed, and removed it, his hand dropping to his side.

As his hand dropped, it grazed the hilt of his sword, and reminded him of something. He jumped up, startling Hinata into awareness. "I picked something up for you" he said quietly, and turned to untie a small knife sheath attached to his belt. "here" he said shortly, and handed her back the blue knife he had given her a while back. She looked at it for a second, bewildered, and Kosuke suddenly had a fear of her harming him with it. He'd just given a very angry woman a sharp object. Not a good idea. He was about to suggest that he keep a hold of it for now, before she smiled, and unsheathed it a bit to look at the blade.

"Thank you Kosuke, I was really quite sad when I thought I'd lost it forever. Such a pretty knife" she said, and her eyes fluttered shut a second. He patted her briefly, and advised her to sleep. She nodded, and set the knife on her bedside table, before mumbling something about feeling ill. He smiled, and left, closing the door quietly behind him.

What she'd said deeply unsettled him, and only added to his guilt. When he'd found a nurse, a different one from before, but looked equally frazzled with a woman in a nightgown following her, he said briefly that Hinata had woken up and was sick. The Nurse nodded, and said that was just shock, and that she'd heal her straight away. Kosuke once again stopped her and reminded her she didn't have enough chakra, and she had more important duties.

"Plus, you have this lady to sort out, yes?" he said, looking at the woman. She didn't seem familiar.

"Well, I've just had my delightful exam, so I'm not in the least bit tired, so, take your time finding a room" the woman said, and Kosuke recognised the woman who he had spoken to in that_…place._ The one with the coat.

"Oh, miss, its you" he said, and smiled, "glad you're okay" she shrugged and nodded. She was obviously a labourer, who worked hard, as far as he could tell. She had short dirty blonde hair, and intense brown eyes, with a pale-ish complexion, but not as pale as Hinata. She nodded at the door to Hinata's room. "So it finally sunk in, huh? That's rough. Can she touch you?" she asked, and Kosuke was surprised by her accuracy.

"Yeah, and, she let me touch her forehead too" he said, looking back at the door. She looked impressed, "very good, she must trust you very much. I heard about that sacrifice you made, I was suspecting her to stab you or something" the woman said with cold humour. Kosuke laughed, but it didn't touch his eyes.

"I seriously suspected it when I mentioned I'd found the precious knife that she'd dropped" he said sadly, but failed to notice the woman's eyes widen.

"What, did you do with said precious knife?" she queried, looking wary. Kosuke looked at her, frowning. "I gave her it back, because I gave it to her" he said, shrugging slightly.

The woman hissed, "You fool!" she snarled, and darted past him, bursting into Hinata's room, Kosuke right behind her. Hinata, who was stood at the window, leaning right out into the night air, gave a small screech, and turned sharply, Tsuyu jerked awake, jumping to his feet, but swaying as he encountered a head rush. The woman gave a breath of relief, before marching forward and snatching up the knife.

"Dammit Amaya-san, you give a depressed woman a knife? Are you a fucking moron? What if she had tried to harm herself? Ugh!" she said, and handed Kosuke the knife.

"Ah, w-wait, I-I, w-wasn't g-going t-to do anything like that!" Hinata said, mystified by the sudden appearance of this rough looking stranger. The woman turned to Hinata, and looked at her straight in the eye.

"You don't think around 6 hours ago when you were in that building, with the Boss, that you wouldn't have considered the option?" she said sadly, looking at her. Hinata's eyes widened a fraction, and then her gaze dropped to the floor. "I'm Yuri, and I used to be the boss' favourite, so, I know what he's like. That, "It's a woman, so I should talk to her like she's an idiot" kind of attitude. After a while, that was the worst thing for me" she said, and gave out a cold short laugh. Hinata looked at her for a second, and then suddenly hugged Yuri, shivering.

Yuri smiled, and hugged Hinata closely, saying warm things to her. Yuri turned, and motioned for Kosuke and Tsuyu to disappear. So, Kosuke took Tsuyu to see their mother. On his way up, Kosuke sighed, and placed a hand on Tsuyu's head.

"I'm really getting sick of being in this hospital, y'know? It's just the ending place for everything bad that's happened to people. All those women! People who're ill, or injured. They all end up here!" he complained. Tsuyu looked up at him with pale blue eyes, and blinked.

"But, Suke-nii-san, good things happen too! Babies are born, and people are happy! People do die, and get ill, and injured, but, they always get better, and babies are born all the time, like Kumo! Hospital is a good place, but only to those who're leaving it, right?" he said, and smiled. Kosuke laughed at being denied being pessimistic by his baby brother.

But, in hospitals, things go wrong too.

* * *

I took a break from posting over the Holidays, so i'm going to post...3 Chapters, to wrap up the Tiny Miyuki arc, then get on to focusing on to the next, slightly larger arc of another girl.

So, have fun with this, and another 3 chapters.

Ilse.


	12. Amaya Miyuki

**Chapter 12: Amaya Miyuki.**

Kosuke lifted Tsuyu into a big bear hug, and carried him the rest of the way. He didn't do it because Tsuyu was nervous or anything, but because Kosuke was getting a bit edgy. It was about 3 in the morning, and this labour had almost lasted 12 hours now. Weren't they meant to get quicker the more children you have? Kosuke _knew_ that Tsuyu was only a ten and a half hour labour.

He entered the hallway to the Maternity ward, and sighed, hearing his mother's pained but exhausted cries. It seems she was losing energy. He slowed, not wanting to see nor hear his mother in so much pain. He came to a complete stop, his courage running away, as he stopped, deep in thought.

"Suke-nii-san! Stop day dreaming! Mamma's quiet now!" Tsuyu complained, and Kosuke jerked out of his trance, and realised the same as Tsuyu had, that his mother had fallen silent. He felt disquieted at this, but, he forced himself on up the hallway. He listened and his pace steadily increased his panic rising.

He flung the door to his room open, and his mother's surprised and tired eyes flew to him and Tsuyu, who were staring at their mother in disbelief. She was ragged, worn, coated in sweat, her hair a complete mess, her sheets thrown everywhere, she was hooked up to all sorts of drips and weird monitors. Kosuke wanted to just make her all better, but that wasn't anything he could do.

His mother suddenly struggled to get up, but his father who was looking tired, but no where near as exhausted as Miyuki, protested. She merely slapped his hand away, and forced herself into a sitting position. She smiled at them, and opened her mouth to say something, before her eyes widened in shock, and there was a dreadful pause, before she vomited everywhere in front of her.

Kosuke froze, as Asa jumped up and yelled in shock. Doctors suddenly appeared and shoved Kosuke and Tsuyu into a corner. His mother, who now had blood steadily pouring out of her womb, was screaming hysterically for Kumo. The Doctors hurriedly wheeled her out on her bed, her cries and screams being gently hushed by an equally shocked Asa.

Kosuke stood in the now empty room, holding Tsuyu close, who had yet to register the severity of the situation, and just stared at the awful red stains of the blood trail his mother had left behind. Kosuke looked up and around and dumbly followed the sound of his mother's screams.

Surely, Asa and the Doctors could save her. Surely, her and the Baby would re-appear from that surgery room, Miyuki laughing at how silly she was for crying, and that her throat hurt from all the shouting. Asa would appear; looking slightly irritated at his wife's antic's as usual, and scold Tsuyu playfully for laughing at her. It would only encourage her after all. And Kumo would be here, and she, for now Kosuke was sure, for his mother, the child would be a girl, she would be beautiful, and she would fall asleep with mother on the sofa, because they were both so tired from this Ordeal.

But as he stared blankly at the surgery door, he knew these truths existed only in his head. Tsuyu suddenly clung to him, and wailed, crying that the hospitals should save his mamma. Kosuke hugged him, and told him, like he always did, that Ninja's should never show emotion, and he had to remind himself of this too, as he felt his breath hitch on a lump in his throat. He bit back tears, and buried his head in Tsuyu's hair, rocking his baby brother, trying to comfort him.

But, his closed eyes only brought haunted images of his mother's blood rushing out everywhere, and his eyes snapped open again. Suddenly, he was aware of his mother's cries weakening, and dissipating, then coming to an eventual stop. He felt himself stop breathing, fearing the worst as a nurse appeared form the theatre.

"Nurse! Nurse, my mother, is she okay?? She's stopped shouting!? What's happened? Will she be alright? What about the baby?" the flood of questions escaped Kosuke before he could stop them, and had to bite his lip to stop himself from continuing.

The nurse smiled sadly, "She's asleep, and we've put her under an anaesthetic, because she was so hysterical, it would be dangerous for the baby. The doctor's are undergoing an emergency Caesarean Section now. the baby had the umbilical cord wrapped around its neck, and she moved to the wrong angle, and the baby panicked, causing the Placenta to drop. The baby was then left without oxygen, so, we initiated emergency equipment, and it should be arriving any minute now" she said, and scurried off with a trolley of surgical equipment.

Kosuke watched her go, and slumped back in his chair, staring at the door. He felt Tsuyu begin to shiver, and twitch as his stomach lurched. Kosuke knew if he had eaten recently, Tsuyu'd be throwing up his food. Kosuke just held him tight, straining hard to hear anything, but not wanting to hear at all. Holding himself down from running in the surgical room, but desperately wanting to run away. Hoping upon hope itself, that his mother would emerge perfectly fine, with a perfect baby, but knowing this would be the case.

He swallowed hard, and tensed himself, cradling Tsuyu, protecting him, feeling like some distressed wolf snarling at passer by's. Suddenly, his heart gave a terrified jolt, as a baby's scream echoed the hallway. Relief almost passed through him, as he realised that screaming was good for a new born baby. It was quickly hushed, and soon, the baby emerged, and Kosuke saw his torn father follow it hesitantly. He wanted to follow the baby, but stay with his wife. Good, that meant she was still yet alive. Their eye's locked, and Kosuke saw his desperation, before he nodded, and followed after the baby, his body moving against his will.

He caught up, but all he could see through the blankets, was a mass of blood and quivering screaming baby. He didn't feel any compassion for this child at all, and it disgusted himself. How could he not love his own sibling? He looked at the nurse, and forced his voice to work.

"What sex is it?" he asked, feeling shame as his voice sounded almost disdainful.

"A Baby girl, Amaya, we'll have her cleaned up in just a minute" she said, smiling warmly at him. He followed her obediently, and watched, as she gently bathed the child, but didn't talk, or coo, or hold it very close. She didn't want to create unnecessary bonds between them. Instead, she instructed Kosuke and Tsuyu to talk to her, and Tsuyu did it willingly, calling her name softly, but Kosuke couldn't speak, preferring to merely hum Miyuki's Lullaby.

Eventually, the woman led them into a different ward, where she left him in a warm snug room, with a squishy sofa and bed, where his mother would be placed after she was cleaned up after surgery. She wheeled in the cot holding this baby, and Kosuke thanked her and sat. Tsuyu, looked at him, then at Kumo.

"Can't we hold her, Kosuke, please?" he asked, and Kumo gave out a distressed cry, but did not start to cry properly. Kosuke sighed, and placed Tsuyu on the bed, and looked at the little girl wrapped in pink blankets. His heart melted immediately.

She was the image of Miyuki, except, she had dark chocolate eyes, like him. She still had Miyuki's blonde hair, even if it was wispy and slightly matted. Kosuke even thought the bits underneath were a red-ish colour. He gently reached out, and felt better, now that he felt genuine affect for her. He picked her up very gently, and cradled her awkwardly, and sat so Tsuyu could see, and spoke to her gently, reassuring her that Miyuki would be here soon.

Kumo just continued to stare at him, bewildered it seemed, and Kosuke smiled down at her, and hummed Miyuki's Lullaby. Kumo smiled back, learning all the time, and closed her eyes, snuggling into his hard chest. He didn't imagine he was as comfortable at a woman would be. Suddenly, the door swung open gently, and his drugged mother came in on a bed. Kosuke stood, Kumo's eyes flickering open again, and moved out of the way, while the doctors gently moved her onto the room's bed. Asa trailed behind, looking bemused, and he collapsed on the sofa, but didn't sleep. Kosuke immediately went to his mother's sleeping form, and placed Kumo on her. Kumo needed her mother almost immediately after birth. They needed that bond. After 7 minutes of complete silence, Miyuki shifted, and opened her eyes, moving as if to sit up. Kosuke stopped her, and readjusted the bed instead. She sighed, and thanked him, but only then did she seem to notice she was holding her astonished baby.

"oh, my baby Kumo, you're all in pink. I think you're a girl" she said, her voice exhausted. Kumo smiled again, and settled into Miyuki's bosom, immediately falling asleep. Kosuke smiled, and picked up Tsuyu, who hugged his mother, and Kosuke slung an arm over his mother's shoulders. Asa then stood, and went to Miyuki's other side, and placed a kiss on her cheek. Miyuki smiled weakly, her face a deathly pale, and her breathing ragged.

"My boys, you finally have a little girl to care for. You should all raise her well" there was a finality in her voice, that even Tsuyu seemed to understand. "I'm sorry I did this to you all, but, I needed my baby girl. I'd always dreamed of having a girl, and my Lullaby was sung to me by my mother, and hers before her. I just…wanted to pass…on my tradition…Keep…her safe, okay?" she demanded, her eyes drooping. The Amaya boys nodded and mumbled in agreement, each watching either Miyuki or Kumo. "Good, keep her safe" she repeated, and her eye's flickered to Kosuke, "keep them all safe" she said, and he saw Hinata's image in his mind, but brushed it away quickly.

Miyuki heaved a sigh, and began feeding Kumo from her breast, holding her close. Kosuke listened painfully as her breathing slowed, and she let out her last sigh, her eyes closed, and a contented smile gracing her features. Kosuke felt his mind die, as he watched him mother's body fall limp, her flowery smell tainted by blood, hospital, anaesthetic, and now a faint smell of death. He swallowed hard, and watched as Asa cried without shame, and Tsuyu clung to his mother's clothing, sniffing hard, and Kumo, still feeding, unaware of her mother's passing away. He suddenly felt very isolated from them, as everything began to crash down on him.

It was all his fault. He had left Hinata on her own, which resulted in her being kidnapped, and then he had _let_ her be raped. Her disappearance had made his mother panic, and begins an early labour when her body was weak, and Kumo wasn't ready. It was his fault his mother was dead, and Hinata was broken. He flinched, and pulled away from his mother's body, feeling like he had no right. Asa glanced up, and Kosuke mumbled something about telling a nurse. He ran to the nurses desk, told them of his mother, and then just kept on running, not returning back to the room, the image of his dead mother with Asa Tsuyu and Kumo burning into his mind.

They didn't need him, he was a wrong element, his visible and weak emotions burned away. His father was a great ninja, yet he still had feelings. Kosuke just wasn't good enough to live up to that standard. Tsuyu was a very talented ninja, already at age 5, and will have no problem becoming what Asa became. But, something went wrong with Kosuke. They could've been a happy family, with two young children, but instead, this 16 year old moron had taken away the two children's mother.

He stopped running, only to notice he stood outside Hinata's door. He only paused for a second, before knocking and entering. Yuri and Hinata looked at him surprised and Kosuke only barely registered Hinata had been healed. Yuri must've insisted she be healed. He floated across the room, waving to them, and sat in a chair, and placed his head in his hands, tensing himself to control his visible shaking. Yuri quickly dismissed herself, unwilling to get caught up with him.

He felt a tickle of wind on his arm, his skin covered in a sheen of sweat. Images of his dying mother were burned into his mind, the bone-chilling screams echoed in his mind, and the smell made his stomach turn, even now. He could smell it on himself. He shivered, and stood suddenly, tearing his jacket off. He stood lost, now that he had tore his jacket off, he wasn't sure what to do with himself. He felt like tearing his skin off, and throwing it away, he felt so awful, and unused to his own body. He paced and then started to kick the chair in the room and shout and growl, furious at himself.

He heard the chair snap underneath his powerful kick, and then suddenly, he was flat on his back, as the room tipped. He swore loudly, and tried to stand up, but felt a weight on his chest. He could throw it off, but, he was confused as to what it was. He blinked and focused his blurred vision on the woman with the azure hair sat atop his chest. He cocked his head and frowned, and she let out a breath of relief.

"You scared me there, Kosuke" she said quietly, and Kosuke suddenly realised that it was Hinata. He sighed, and sat up, catching hold of her. He rested his head on her shoulder as she sat in his lap. He took a deep breath, inhaling her strange scent. His arms suddenly locked around her, and words tumbled out of his mouth. He wasn't sure exactly what he was saying, but he sort of thought he was telling her about his mother. Suddenly he felt her small arms encircle him, hugging him back. He realised she reminded him of his mother, when she sung that lullaby. It was similar to his mother's, but much sadder. Like it was composed entirely for this moment.

"I'm sorry I scared you" he croaked out, finally gaining control of himself, and shifted, hauling him and her up. He looked at her face, and saw she was failing miserably at holding back tears over Miyuki's death. Kosuke's stomach suddenly wrenched at the prospect, as his mother's passing away actually sunk in. Then, he was over the toilet, puking up every bit of food he had left. Hinata patted his back soothingly, speaking gently. Kosuke finally stood up, and went to the sink, drinking straight from the tap.

Hinata took a hold of his arm, and steered him to the bed, and sat him down on it. He shivered, and collapsed onto the bed, muttering a small apology to Hinata for taking her bed. Hinata merely sighed, and sat next to him, her tears coming in floods, but she was waiting for the rest of the pain, which was yet to arrive for Hinata now she had finished taking care of Kosuke.

She placed her hand to her mouth, and choked back a sob. She sat at the end of the bed, as Kosuke's legs were hanging off the side of the bed, leaving the bottom half free for Hinata to curl up and sob. She curled her legs up to her chest, and curled her arms round them, her whole body shaking. She'd loved Miyuki. She was very motherly, and reminded Hinata of her lost mother greatly, of what she could remember from her fuzzy memories, apart from her random outbursts of aggressiveness towards Kosuke or Asa, which were always laughed off. She smiled between sobs, thinking fondly of Miyuki and her boisterousness.

She glanced at Kosuke, wiping her eyes into focus. She finally saw what he looked like asleep. She had _never_ seen Kosuke asleep. Probably because whenever she was simply stirring, he'd hear and be fully awake instantly. But now, he was sound asleep, and she found it strange to see his face relaxed, content. Usually he wore a mask of nothingness when he wasn't interacting with people. His expression only really changed when he was talking to someone, and only really with those inside the Amaya Clan. She sighed, and placed her head down on her knees, and felt herself drifting off in this upright position. She didn't know how long she dozed for, but she was rudely awaked by someone suddenly, lifting her, and placing her in a comfortable, and surprisingly warm, bed. Her eyes jerked open, to see Kosuke's guilty face.

"Sorry, I took your bed, you were asleep upright" he said, and sighed. "You're the one meant to be in hospital, so you should get the bed" he said, and appeared disgruntled by his own actions. Hinata just shook her head, and indicated to the bottom of the bed, and scooched over to the left hand side of the bed, to make room for him to lie down. He looked at her, and shook his head, but she insisted. Eventually, after refusing to take a pillow off of her, he laid down on the right side of the bed, his head next to Hinata's feet, and his legs hanging off the side like before. He sighed, and began to breathe heavily, but Hinata wasn't convinced he was asleep.

The grief of Miyuki washed away as she realised that Kumo was a girl. Kosuke had used "she" before, and that must've made Miyuki very happy. She smiled to herself, thinking fondly of a very alive Miyuki. She knew Kosuke was living in the lost aspects of his mother. He didn't understand the amount of gain he had gotten from her over the years. She sighed, and called out softly,

"Kosuke-kun?" she waited, hearing his breathing stop, but he shifted slightly.

"Yes?" he whispered back.

"What's Kumo like?" she asked, and she listened carefully. She could almost hear the confusion in him, but he thought about it anyway.

"Well, she has blonde hair like mother, almost white, like my mother's was when she was born, I believe. But it has a slightly red tint, I think, like mine and father's. But, her eyes are a dark chocolate colour, which is kind of strange, because when babies are born they usually all have blue eyes, then they gradually change colour a few days later. But no, she's just the spitting image of mother, and she smiles, and hasn't cried at all. She's a very good baby" he said, and she felt him fidget and relax more.

"I see. She sounds cute" Hinata said, and yawned, turning on her side towards where Kosuke was. "Its cold, I think I'll shut the window" she said absently, and sat up, but Kosuke was up like a flash, and the window was shut before she could even get out of bed. She smiled and lay back on the bed. "You sure you don't want a pillow?" she offered, and he shook his head. She sighed, and then patted the bed beside her.

"Tell me more about Miyuki" she said, and Kosuke hesitated, then sat beside her before laying down next to her again, this time with his head on her pillow too. He took a deep breath, and then turned to her.

"She was just a common farmer, at one point. Its one of _those_ stories by the way. Her family owned rice fields, but she had a special interest in Horses. She eventually rescued a foal, and claimed him as her own, at about age 8. His name is Shun, and he's still hanging around the compound, y'know. But, she trained this foal to be able to pull his weight around the home, so she was able to keep him. It was the first time a horse instead of bison was used in a harvest, and it was much easier to train horses than bison, even if they weren't as strong. This horse, incidentally, was a pure bred stallion, as my mother began to realised, and after… _ascertaining_ another pure bred horse, and having a few pure breed foals of their own, she eventually decided to find where her original stallion had appeared from. She still felt kind of guilty for stealing someone's horse, because they were rare in Kirigakure when she was that age. Bearing in mind, she was about 15 now, and was almost a master horseman; she was making a tidy profit with the foals. But she realised she could make more, but without arousing the suspicion of whoever had the authority to arrest her for stealing a horse" he said, and settled further down on the bed.

"So, she searched out as carefully as she could, and found only one household with horses of his breed. The Amaya. And, she was frightened of them. Everyone was scared of them then, they were notoriously ruthless while Zabuza was around. She hesitantly arrived there, her first stallion, and a fine young Colt as a peace offering. Of course, she wasn't going to tell them of her growing business, and how she'd spent some money to make herself look poorer than she actually was. As she approached the head of the clan, with his two twin boys, who looked identical at the time, they sat either side, guarding him valiantly. She stuttered her story, and offered the horses as a sign of apology. The head of the clan merely laughed, and graciously denied talking her horses off of her, as long as she told them the secret of how to get them to behave themselves. Apparently, they were having some trouble with a new batch of foals. She immediately offered her assistance in taming them. And that she did, she trained the whole lot of them perfectly, and the house was so impressed they employed her full time. Eventually, she admitted she had her own horse farm with foals to raise, and they didn't take offence at all. She had a gift with horses, and they said, as long as she kept them at the Amaya compound, and allowed them for daily work, she could keep them as her own, but, the best of the offspring must be given to Amaya as payment for allowing a working breed to reside in the war horses stables" he said, and sighed, yawing, collecting his thoughts before continuing.

"She stayed there for a long time, and was on very good terms with everyone, the servants and the leaders. She was about 17 when Asa and Shishio approached her. They wished to borrow 2 horses, normal working horses, for a mission. She complied on the basis that if anything happened to them, she be allowed to keep 2 of the foals that would normally travel on to be work horses. They agreed, then admitted they had no experience riding a horse. So, she had around a month to teach them, and she did not go easy on them. With her ferocious temper, she had no concern that they were heirs to the Amaya family, she beat them into reasonable riders easily, and they didn't even resent her for it. In fact, they both thanked her for it, and one liked her more than the other, admittedly, but, was totally afraid to show it at first, because custom was for him to marry a girl…of a higher standard" he said, shifting uncomfortable.

"Well, anyway, after they borrowed the horses, Miyuki got the idea of creating a better breed. The horses the Amaya's had were sturdy horses, but not very fast runners. So, she went on a trip travelling round the countries, and collected all the money she had earned during her selling of horses, and bought all the best looking foals from around the country, with the best attributes, and set about breeding them into shape. The clan didn't truly understand what she was doing until the first foal came through. A Beautiful Foal, the son of her first horse, with a fast speckled mare. Their offspring was a black horse, with white speckles flowing down its back and flanks. They loved it, since it almost resembled "Amaya", the Night's Rain, and was very close to our K-" he suddenly cut off, and looked at her worriedly, but she didn't interject. He coughed, and continued "Well, anyway, they were impressed with the foal, and immediately raised her status. They didn't want to loose a woman with such assets, so they offered her the full life of luxury, and that automatically meant Asa was able to….shall we say, _make his move_. Anyway, long story short, he married her, and now the Amaya clan war horses' are all black with white speckles" he finished, and settled down next to her, staring at the ceiling in thought.

Hinata was glad he had clamed down now, and wondered what he was thinking of. She had difficulty piecing this story, and her Miyuki together, and picturing that she was actually dead. She just, wasn't able to comprehend it, and trying to just made her exhausted.

"It just, doesn't seem real" she said slowly, looking at Kosuke's hair.

Kosuke twitched an eyebrow at her remark, but silently agreed with her. He'd lived through it, and accepted it, but suddenly, lying here with her made it seem so fake. He wondered if he'd ever accept it. He was comfortable like this though, even if it wasn't healthy. He jumped at a small knock on the door, and he was there in half a second, opening it slowly, to reveal a frightened Tsuyu. He groaned with guilt, and quickly scooped him up into his arms and hugged him. He had completely forgotten about Tsuyu. He suddenly had an idea.

He took Tsuyu to Hinata, and lay bad down with her, and put Tsuyu in between them. The poor boy was in floods of tears, and was on the verge of collapsing into sleep, but his grief kept him awake.

"Can you sing your lullaby Hinata, please?" he asked, and shifted so she'd have more room.

Hinata merely shrugged, and wrapped an arm round the small boy's body, and sung her lullaby gently. She didn't know the words anymore, but she had learned the tune clearly. Tsuyu immediately stopped crying, and listened to her. He shifted a bit, realising it wasn't his mother's lullaby, but, snuggled into her feminine warmth, and fell straight to sleep.

"I knew that would work" Kosuke said quietly, and Hinata just nodded, feeling her own eyelids go very heavy. Kosuke then began his mother's lullaby, lying on his side and stroking Tsuyu's hair. He felt his eyes draw up to the Konoha Kunoichi, sighing to himself. He couldn't help but see the small look of sadness on her face, and wondered if he had caused that, but he pushed away his guilt, not wanting to go down that road. He was aware of his close proximity to her, but it comforted him, rather than made him uncomfortable. He wondered when he had become so used to her. But, he had seen everything she had on the outside, and he knew she trusted him, enough for her to fall deep asleep when he was by her side, and that seemed to be enough for him.

He fell asleep, his dreams of his mother, and her past life. A certain red eyed kunoichi from Konoha haunted his dreams that night as an after thought.

* * *

**Ahh, so, i haven't posted in..._quite_ a while. Buuuuuuut, i think i justify it well, i reckon**

**I hope you, "enjoyed" the last couple of chapters, as much as one can, so anyway.**

**Byyyee**

**Ilse.**


	13. Calm Before The Storm

Chapter 13: Calm before the Storm

Hinata didn't want to leave her hospital room. Sakura had cheerily said she'd be back in an hour to pick her up. And Hinata had obediently packed away her things, put her coat on, and was ready to leave when she sat cross-legged on her bed and froze in absolute fear.

She really, REALLY didn't want to go outside. She didn't want to leave. Leaving meant that everything had actually happened. Miyuki was dead. She had been raped. And Kumo was real. And that fake smile plastered on Sakura's face really was only reserved for her.

She was in the middle of hyperventilating when Kosuke wandered in, and paused when he saw a panicking Hinata staring at him with wide white eyes. He wondered what in the hell he should do, before striding forward, and sweeping her up into his arms.

She immediately began to shriek that she didn't want to leave, but Kosuke gripped her, and walked out purposefully. He'd been warned about this. The nurses looked at her with sympathetic gazes, as she suddenly had a bout of agoraphobia. He kicked the front doors open, to reveal a surprised Sakura, whose eyes filled with immediate understanding, as she'd seen this quite a few times in her patients. Kosuke walked leisurely out into the street, with Hinata struggling viciously. He sauntered towards the plaza with the fountain, and paused for a moment, ignoring the pain on his arms from Hinata clawing at him.

He suddenly spun, and headed straight towards the alleyway that Hinata had been taken into. She saw this, and screamed at the top of her lungs, and bucked trying to get out of his grip.

"AOKO KIMI!" Kosuke eventually shouted sharply, and she immediately stopped shrieking and bucking, and just continued to claw at his already raw and bleeding hands. He continued on, and Hinata's desperation to get away, became greater as the distance between her and the alleyway shortened. But, as they came level with the alley, Kosuke stopped.

This made Hinata pause in her escape plans, and look at Kosuke in confusion. Suddenly he let go of her, and dropped her to her feet. She stumbled, and prepared to make a bolt for it, but she was blinded by a white flash. And suddenly, she was face to face with a pure white teardrop gemstone, set into a clean silver amulet, on a sturdy silver chain. She gasped and reached out for the necklace.

"Kimi-san!" a voice suddenly called out, evident relief flooding through it. The stall owner looked relieved to see Hinata well. "Thank goodness! I'm so sorry I couldn't help you before! But…" he said, and gestured vaguely towards his jewellery laden stall.

Hinata smiled shakily, "I understand, erm…?" she queried for his name, which she hadn't caught before. "Just call me Izo!" he said, and grinned.

Izo then turned to Kosuke, and bowed deeply, and said with great respect.

"Amaya-sama, your response was impeccable, I'm hugely grateful you managed to save Kimi, I felt so responsible after it happened. I didn't see that godforsaken man, I wasn't paying attention!" he shook his head, and looked sadly down at the necklace.

"But, I have good news Kimi-san! I dug out the matching ear rings and bracelet for your necklace; it was in a rival store. I don't expect you to buy them, I know you're a farmer girl" he said, and smiled pleasantly at her, "But, I thought you'd be interested to see the _other_ pieces" he said, and disappeared briefly and came back with carefully wrapped silk packages, and laid them out in front of Hinata and Kosuke.

The earrings and bracelets were the exact same shape and metal, except the stone was mother of pearl, so, a white stone with pink veins, and a glittery shimmer. She gasped, and picked them up gently, admiring the stone. "These are incredible!" she gasped, and Izo nodded.

"I'm going to take them to a specialist one day. I can get a huge price for this set. I'm going to start my search for the ring one day too! There's definitely a ring, because, there's four strokes on the back of each piece, indicating that this is a set of four. I investigated, and the metal is the same, and I've minimilised the damage they've sustained over the years. They're awfully old, you know that? But, look, I managed to restore them!" he said, babbling on.

Hinata smiled at him, this man was still very young, only about 20 or so, yet he was already very talented and owned a respectful business. Kosuke suddenly unslung his pack, and dug around in it hurriedly, with a sudden urgency. Hinata and Izo watched him with interest, and he suddenly produced 3 knives, all of varying colours quality and laid them out in front of Izo.

Hinata recognised one as Miyuki's knife that she gave to him. She felt her heart sink as Miyuki's passing away hit her again. The other two were far more lethal looking, and in worse shape than Miyuki's knife.

"Izo-san, what do you think you'd be able to do with these? They're meant to roughly be the same as this" he said and pointed to his mother's knife. Izo tilted his head, and picked up the knives. He inspected them for half a minute. He laid them carefully back onto the table, and launched into a full description, where they were from, what the design was called, what was wrong with them, how he could fix them, what exactly he would need, and how long it would take. He couldn't sharpen them though, only strengthen the blades.

Kosuke looked at him with awe. "How would you like, Izo, to…" he paused, and lowered his voice drastically, "To work for me and who I represent" he said, a glint in his eye, "someone with your skills would be able to keep our oldest weapons in top form. Our weapon specialists simply bang the metals together, and then ninja add the garnish, we have no one like you, who actually cares" he said, his voice a scarce whisper. Izo looked at him for a second, and then nodded.

A lot can happen in a few weeks. Including a Rush planning for a funeral.

Hinata was wandering around the estate, carrying a book reading it at the same time, when she suddenly heard a man give out a pained scream. Her head jerked up, and she ran flat out towards him. She skidded to a halt, when a giant horse suddenly jumped into view, its nostrils wide and snorting, its eyes wide in terror, and blood on its hooves. Hinata quivered in fear as she saw the stallion, jet black, with white speckles cascading down its back. It swung its head towards her. She froze, and then pulled her courage towards her. The stallion shrieked and reared, and darted forwards towards her.

Hinata gripped her book, and waited. The horse was incredibly quick, but Hinata had fast reactions. When it was only a few metres in front of her, Hinata threw the book into its face, then ran to its side, up the wall, then jumped onto its back, and clamped her arms round its neck. The horse, reared and bucked, and twirled in circles, and ran the length of the courtyard and back, nearly crashing into things, but Hinata would grab its mane or ears, and jerk it out of the way. She shifted, and began to sing nonsense to the horse. It eventually stopped fully, twisting its ears back and forth to listen to her. Hinata loosed her grip, and sat back, continuing to sing. By then, Horse boys, and horse masters, and a few curious ninja had appeared to watch the spectacle.

Hinata continuing to sing, waved over one of the horse boys, and motioned for the reigns to attach to the bridle. Once she had hold of them, and leaning forward again, prepared to quickly attach the leather. She timed it, and tensing her muscles, swiftly attached the reigns next the colt's mouth, and gathering the reigns and tightening the length. The stallion reared in resistance, and bucked and kicked out a few times, but Hinata pulled him out of harms way.

People then clapped quietly, and cheered her in whispers, so as not to startle him.

"Well done, Aoko-sama, you have quite the way with horses" a man Hinata could only assume was the stable master, had slid up beside her silently. Hinata caught movement on the edge of her vision, and glanced up to see the Kosuke had materialised on the rooftop with an alarmed look on his face.

"Kosuke-san!" she called out, without thinking. The entire congregation froze, and then bowed, before acting stiff and unnatural. One thing Hinata had learned was that everyone in this compound was desperately scared of Kosuke and Shira, and everyone else who was in their position. Apart from, it seemed, women who had their eyes on them. The story of how Miyuki won Asa's heart was one told many a times to the various young ladies of the house hold.

"Kimi-san, are you alright?" he said, and looked sadly at the group of people. Another thing Hinata had taken to doing, was forcing great crowds of people to see how un-scary Kosuke was sometimes.

"Of course I am, Kosuke-san! Get down here, and see this Stallion. He's a fine horse if I ever saw one. We don't make them like this in Konoha!" she said, casting her mind about for better conversation starters. He looked at her, by this time used to her strange behaviour, and merely snorted in amusement. He complied however, and appeared suddenly beside the stable Master.

"Afternoon, Huyu-san" Kosuke greeted him, to which the stable master, Huyu, bowed deeply and greeted him respectfully. Kosuke merely looked at him sadly.

"Huyu, how many times must I say, you don't have to give me such formalities. We've known each other for long enough…Anyhow, what is this Stallion's name?" he asked, and edged round the side of the giant horse, and approached him from the front.

"Shun, sir, and he's merely a colt" Huyu replied curtly. Kosuke stopped, and looked at Huyu quizzically.

"That's the name of my mother's horse!" he said, astonished. Hinata assumed that his mother's horse was the foal she rescued.

"Aye, it is. We named him that in her and the horse's memory. And, goodness, this is the finest Colt we've seen in a long time, master Kosuke" Huyu said, staring vaguely at Kosuke, his formalities dropped.

Kosuke took a deep breath, "will he be on the carriage?" Here, Kosuke was referring to Miyuki's funeral. She would have a parade through the streets, and onto the plaza, pulled by a black Amaya horse, and a pure white horse, who was a descendant of the Old horses, as they were now referred to as. Huyu sighed, and relaxed visibly. The rest of the courtyard seemed to let out a breath.

"We want him too, but, he's not been broken in yet. He's large, but, he's young. I really think we're going to have trouble with him though. He reacted badly to the saddle just now; my right hand man has a couple of broken ribs as it is. I think, Aoko-sama, you should come away from him…" he said, and Huyu stood up straight, and moved in front of Shun. Shun's eyes followed him closely, snorting with discontent. Hinata stroked Shun's head, and leaned forward humming lowly.

"Huyu-san, please one second, can I just try and get him calm?" Hinata said her voice soft and inoffensive. Shun flicked his head, and shuffled his hooves on the cobbles. Huyu looked afraid, and Kosuke suddenly stood up straight.

"Kimi-san, are you sure?" he said, leaning forward a bit as if to suddenly grab her off the massive Colt.

"The Amaya breeds, are…"hot blooded", is what we refer to them as. Field horses like you're used to are "cold blooded" and have a quiet temperament, if you get what I mean…" he said, thinking carefully about his words. Hinata sighed at his assumption she was an ignorant moron. She clicked her tongue next to Shun's ear, and tugged his reigns lightly. He immediately swung his head in that direction, so he wasn't facing Huyu directly.

"I'm sure I can handle him" she said, and very carefully began to shift her weight on Shun's back.

"And anyways" Hinata said, sliding off Shun's back. He nickered uneasily, and she immediately hummed to him, and led him gently to a water trough. He was already used to reigns, but, not a saddle. She stroked him gently, and he pulled away slightly, but wasn't aggressive.

"I was told, that, Miyuki originally used her first foal, Shun as it were, for field work. Now, as I understand it, "Hot Blooded" Equus Animals, do not have the patience for field work like that. So, obviously, the breed of Amaya horses can't be so Hot Blooded after all" she said, and walked calmly into the stable.

She wasn't even sure what sort of training Shun had been given. In Konoha, a new born foal would be straightaway introduced to humans, and straps, and having things attached to it for practice later on in life. It didn't seem like Shun was at all used to a saddle, and he had really panicked when they tried one on. Hinata wandered around the stable for a few minutes, before going back out to talk to Huyu.

Kosuke stood, looking at the Colt Shun carefully. Kosuke had been training horses with his mother all his life, but he's missed the last few batches. The older horses would recognise him, but, this Colt wouldn't.

"Shun" Kosuke said with a definitive leader voice. Shun's ears flicked, but, he didn't respond. Kosuke sighed, and put his body language into a defensive position. The Horse was two years of age, and was just getting used to a saddle. This should mean he should be used to voice commands, body language, and should recognise certain humans as "leader of the pack". As horses are pack animals that work with strict hierarchy, they can be trained to recognise humans as the leader.

"Shun" he growled out again, and stuck his nails into Shun's flank. The horse's head shot up, and he turned quickly and buffeted Kosuke hard with his head. Kosuke growled loudly, and grabbed Shun's head. "Shun, down!" he snarled out, and Shun whinnied and tried to shake off Kosuke's grip. He held firm, and eventually Shun stopped struggling, letting out a snort of defeat. Kosuke nodded in approval, and patted Shun, producing a treat from no where. Shun ate it happily, before flicking his head impatiently.

Kosuke grabbed the reigns hanging loosely from his mouth, and led him over to where the saddle lay useless on the floor. Spots of blood covered the area. Kosuke made Shun stop, and hauled up the saddle to where Shun could sniff it. He wondered what went wrong which made Shun react badly to the saddle. Shun shifted, but stayed clam, and sniffed the saddle. Kosuke moved slowly, to Shun's side. He cantered away, but Kosuke stopped him with a sharp word. Shun wavered for a second, before going back to Kosuke slowly. Kosuke moved steadily again, and hovered the saddle over Shun's back, and paused. Put the saddle down onto his back, a slight shift, and pause. He let go of the saddle, and placed both hands on Shun's head. "Strap up" he said clearly, and Shun's ears flicked. Amaya horses relied on a multitude of vocal commands.

Many people think horses are stupid, but, they're very clever animals, that can be commanded at distance and without a trainer in view. Amaya horses can also be trained to react individually. So, if two horses were there, Kosuke could say "Shun, stop" and only Shun would respond. So, Strap up, is a notification for Shun to stay absolutely still, and he knows that he's about to get straps around him. When he was young, they'd just put on straps, that wouldn't do anything in particular, but would prepare him for the saddle. Kosuke ran his hands over his Hithers, and straightened the straps, before attaching them loosely underneath him.

Shun whinnied in annoyance, but allowed him to adjust the other straps. He left the stirrups tied up by the seat.

"Oh, Kosuke-kun, well done, I was fearing having to do that. How'd you manage to get them on?" Hinata's voice suddenly rang out across the courtyard, making Kosuke jump in surprise. He looked up, and grinned at her.

"T'was nothing, really. I just made sure he knew _I_ was in charge" he said, and chuckled, patting Shun's shoulder. Hinata just ahh'd and came forward bearing food for Shun, and caring a very long lunge rope.

"Come on, we'll take him over to the Lunge pen, as Huyu-san's just called it" she said, and giggled a bit.

"Kimi-san" Kosuke paused a bit, just to remind her she was in character, "where did you learn so much about horses?" he asked, then gathered Shun's reigns, and tugged him out the courtyard, and onto the horse field. He headed for a round pen, where Huyu was just tugging open the fence.

"My mother, she loved horses anyway, and, we used them to travel around on, when we needed their strength or speed. But, my mother, and most of my family to be honest, liked them, and kept them" she gestured vaguely at the houses that surrounded her. Kosuke reasoned that she meant her family was much like HIS family when it came to horses.

Hinata pulled Shun into the round pen, and attached the Lunge rope to Shun's Bridle, and set to work. Shun flicked his head, but waited patiently to begin. He knew the score when it came to this.

Through the next few days, Huyu, Kosuke and Hinata put their heads together in order to Get Shun able to allow a rider. In the end, he would only allow either these three people. When a stable boy attempted to give Shun his exercise on the 3rd morning, Shun nearly killed him when he threw a fit of rage. Hinata was riding him one morning, when Kosuke pulled up next to her on a Pure white Stallion. Shun, who was a big horse, looked positively petit in comparison to this Stallion.

"Hinata, this is Shun Senior, my mother's horse. He's coming up 27 soon. And Old horse, in perspective. He's Shun Junior's…" he paused, "great-great-great-Grandfather. Good going, eh?" he said, and Shun snr flicked his head calmly.

"Come on, let's give 'em a bit of exercise" he said, and urged Shun snr forward. Hinata followed after him, and they rode through the compound, and eventually came to the stairs down into Kirigakure. Kosuke looked at her worriedly, and Hinata just lifted her head up defiantly, and urged Shun jnr Down the stairs.

"Young Shun needs to get used to the streets if he's to be on parade" she said, changing her stance as Shun trotted down the stairs. Kosuke watched her, and smiled. She could be so strong sometimes.

Less then a week later, after Hinata, Huyu, Kosuke and several stable boys had narrowly escaped being trampled to death by him; Shun would accept Hinata, Kosuke, Huyu and 3 other Stable boys to let him ride him. He could also ride down a packed but quiet street without freaking out.

On the morning of Miyuki's funeral, everything was still. Arrangements had been made for the Konoha Ninja to be involved in the parade, masked, so that they could BE Ninja's without arousing suspicion. Tsuyu, Asa, Kumo and Shishio were to be Riding on the Carriage that was going to be carrying Miyuki's body, and Yamato, Shino and Sakura, seeing as none of them could ride a horse, were to be foot ninja, on the rear of the procession. Hinata, being someone who would be using the Byakugan during the parade, would be riding Shun Jnr, an honour for her, while looking out for ambushers. It was generally accepted there'd be an attack.

A series of whistles had been thought up between the Konoha ninja, and the entire Amaya ninja squad, to be able to define in what direction an attack was coming from, if one were to happen. Hinata was given a set of clothes, just her size (she was secretly a bit perturbed they knew her size) which was stereotypically Amaya. She wore a long blue cloak over the Ninja uniform, with a hood, and was given a mask, one similar to a Noh mask, with Diagonally scars in it, symbolising Rain.

She walked out into the courtyard dressed all in Amaya Ninja clothes, to see around 100 Ninja dressed the same as her, and she could sense hundreds of other ninja, but couldn't see them. Kosuke Stood in the middle, shouting at a small group of Ninja, Hinata realised how positively frightening he was. She looked around, and recognised the posture of Shino. She quietly moved through the crowd towards him.

"HEY, YOU! STOP MOVING AROUND AND PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT I'M SAYING!" Kosuke bellowed at her. She froze, and straightened, "Yes, sir!" she shouted back, and she saw him pause, as he realised who he had shouted at. She saw him smile a little to himself.

"Alright, you lot, make sure no one can see your faces, let's show a little respect here!" He said, and there was a general shifting of masks. "Everyone remember the whistles? Got your swords? Right, RIDERS! COME WITH ME TO THE STABLES, EVERYONE ELSE, GET TO THE HEAD OF THE STAIRS! _DO NOT_ START PISSING AROUND, OR I SWEAR TO GOD, I'LL SKIN YOU ALIVE!" He said, but, the ferocity had been lost from his voice. Hinata jumped into the air, and appeared next to Kosuke. It felt weird, when he glanced at her, casually and without emotion. Like when he first laid eyes on her, walking up those stairs, and he was looking at her with cool calculation.

3 other Ninja's dropped down beside her, all three tall males. "Isn't this a bit suspicious?" she said, her voice dropping an octave automatically, when in the presence of Authority, as Kosuke now was. Kosuke raised and Eyebrow at her. "Would you like a Box, soldier? It won't be suspicious; you're on one of the tallest Horses. And, it doesn't matter that you're a woman. You could kick an enemy's ass anyway. Here, your sword. And don't leave it lying around again, or I'll MAKE you taller. And that's not a pretty thing" he said, and threw her sword at her. The men next to her chuckled, and Hinata just pouted. Although, she was wearing a mask, so the effect was Nil. She caught the sword easily, a lightweight short sword, which she could swing easily, and with deathly speed. It was good for her, and only about the length of her forearm, so she could hold it very close to her body.

"Right, BRING 'EM OUT!" Kosuke shouted, and the stabled boys suddenly appeared, dragging out the Two Shun horses, and two other Amaya horses, and a tired looking grey mare with white speckles. Two of the men sprinted forward to take the rowdy Amaya Horses' off the stable boys.

"Ah, Kimi-chan, you've got Shun Jnr, is he well behaved?" Shira's voice suddenly rang out quietly behind her. Hinata jumped, and whirled to look at the Third man. She didn't realised it was him because of his mask.

"Right, you two; S-49, you take Maiha, and, you" he said, and pointed at Hinata, "get Shun calmed down before we take him out" he said, and walked over to the White Shun, radiating dominance. Shun senior, who didn't truly accept Kosuke as an alpha, raised his head slightly, and snorted, but allowed him to approach. Hinata always marvelled at his intelligence.

She marched forward till she was about 10 metres in front of Shun junior. She clicked her fingers, and bellowed out "SHUN! HERE!" she said, Shun junior immediately stopped pulling on his reigns, and swung his head towards Hinata. Shira clutched at his heart. He'd never heard such a frightening sound emitted from such a small woman. The Older Shun turned to her, but didn't move, but she had his full attention.

Hinata squared her shoulders up, and snapped her fingers again, "Here…" she growled out. And Shun lowered his head, and snorted, but, came forward towards her. She grabbed his reigns, and brought his head up so she could look into his eyes. "Behave" she growled out, and he snorted at her. She nodded, and moved to his side, and leaped up onto his back. She gathered his reigns, and swung him round to face everyone else.

"Well done there, little lady" one of the other two horsemen commented, as he leaned forward casually in his saddle. Kosuke glanced at her, and raised an eyebrow, wondering if she'd take that comment. Usually an Amaya woman would kick a mans ass for calling her "Little Lady". Hinata turned to him, and urged Shun forward.

"My good man, you call me little lady again…" she said, and shouted and pulled back, making Shun rear and whinny impressively, "and I wont half be angry" she snarled out, and Shun landed with a loud clop. Shun growled, and the rider's horse shuffled back a bit, whinnying in a worried way.

Hinata heard the rider chuckle a bit, and he leaned over to whisper to the other rider. Hinata sighed, and she knew she'd have to react in a violent way. She sighed, and leaped out of the saddle, making Shun rear again, and she kicked him in the stomach, drawing her sword and placed it at his throat.

"Right, I won't hurt you, because I don't want to inconvenience K- the Boss, because I'm afraid he'd be angry. But, out of respect to Amaya-sama, I wont skin you alive just now, but, afterwards" she said, and ripped his mask off, and imprinted his face into her mind. "I'm coming after you" she growled. The man scowled at her, and pushed her away. She jumped back to Shun, and Kosuke voice suddenly exploded.

"IF YOU TWO ARE QUITE DONE, I'D LIKE TO ATTEND MY MOTHERS FUCKING FUNERAL!" he bellowed, but Hinata could tell he wasn't as angry as he pretended to be. "Now lets go down the fucking ramp, before I kill you my self!" he said, and the two riders dug their heels into the horses flanks, making them jump forward and shoot off in between the houses. Hinata tutted.

"Shun, if you don't catch up to them arseholes, I'm gonna dig MY heels into your flanks" Hinata said, and Shun snorted, and shot off after them. Kosuke watched her, and patted Shun senior's head.

"Go get em, boy" he said, grinning.

Here's how it went, the two riders got 10 seconds head start, and Hinata was in front of them in 5. Kosuke waited almost a minute, and was passing by all three of them within 10 seconds. Kosuke just loved Shun. He wasn't even trying. Kosuke whistled, and Shun suddenly skidded into a tight hairpin corner, and shot into a brightly lit tunnel. Hinata's heart leapt, but her Shun had control of the situation. He skidded into the corner, and pushed himself flat out to catch up to his namesake.

By the end of the tunnel, which Hinata realised was a slope downwards to the edge of Kirigakure. Shun jnr Pushed himself to his full stretch, and managed to over take White shun and speed out the end.

"Shun, stop!" Hinata shouted, and Shun immediately skidded to a halt. Kosuke trotted up behind her, a small smirk on his face. He grabbed his mask, and strapped it to his face, but, turned it to the side. He didn't need to hide his face. It was obvious who he was anyway.

"Hinata, you change when you're on a horse" he chuckled, and urged Shun onwards, through an alley, and onto a packed, and silent square. Hinata followed him, holding herself high.

"Noble, Shun" she commanded, and Shun drew himself up to full height, walking into the hundreds of silent people and stood behind Shun. Shira appeared behind her, with the two other Riders sidling into the square on the edges.

"Right, TURN!" Kosuke shouted out, and everyone in the square, plus the horses, turned towards the Plaza, which could be seen in the Distance. It was an eerie sight. The markets were gone, the streets looked twice as wide, and golden fountain in the plaza about a mile away glinted. The middle of the streets was empty, but the entire population of Kirigakure had turned up, lining the edges of the street, carefully avoiding the gutters of water that zigzagged crazily across the side of the streets.

The curtain of mist behind Hinata, at the base of the Amaya Staircase ascending into the compound, the funeral cart, simply decorated, where Asa, Cradling Kumo, and Shishio, with his arm round Tsuyu, who was desperately trying to keep tears back. Hinata sighed, and stretched out the view of her Byakugan. As soon as her Chakra started pouring out of her, she felt about a Hundred Ninja's Chakra suddenly activate within her scope. As she stretched her sight outwards, she saw Ninja's everywhere. She froze in her saddle, and tried to keep her concentration as Evenly spread as possible. She was in between Shira and Kosuke, on the son of the two horses. She grabbed her overly large hood, and pulled it up, so she could turn her head to avoid the blind spot without people realising she was turning her head for that reason.

"AAATENNTION!" Kosuke shouted, and there was a resounding stamp, as the Ninja in the courtyard stood upright. Hinata swallowed, feeling eyes on her, but she concentrated on the Ninja. She knew where they all SHOULD be, and how they SHOULD move, so, if they move out of place, she'd mutter instructions into the intercom hidden in her robes.

She saw, on the very outskirts of her vision, she saw slight movement, and she shivered.

"Shun's rider, you be still. This is important now. Concentrate on your task, and Shun will do the rest. Just make sure my family is safe" Hinata heard Kosuke's voice clearly, even though it was a bare whisper. She took a deep breath, brought herself upright, Gripping her reigns.

"The Fountain Shun, slow trot" she said in a low voice. "And, god help us"


	14. Miyuki's Funeral

Chapter 14:Miyuki's Funeral.

Sat astride the giant form of Shun, her vision stretched to its full circumference, her breathing short and quick as her nerves started to get the better of her, Hinata jumped as a far off bell struck in the distance. Her eyes automatically focused on some tower, and she cursed in her head, forcing her vision back outwards, into the disc its should be in. She froze, seeing a Ninja out of place, and when she zoomed in on him, she sighed as she saw him merely kicking away a cat that had startled him.

She stretched her vision out to it's reaches, and did a radar scope of the entire city. She swallowed as she saw a few suspicious gangs, but none in the vicinity. She did a check underground, and flashed through all the houses, in the nearer buildings, before flicking back to the full circumference. She felt her Chakra fall away incredibly quickly, as she tried to achieve the full extent of her vision. She Took a deep breath, and her vision radar-ed out again, and her heart leapt as she saw one of the suspicious gangs on the move towards their stretch of city they'd marked off.

"Units, area 241, gang of suspicious characters, moving in an easterly direction, towards the Plaza" She said quietly into her microphone in her mask. She watched with pride as 3 Ninja reacted to her command, and streaked off to head off the gang. Her nerves quietened, as she felt the power at ninja reacting to her every word instantly. The radio crackled,

"Suspects apprehended" he vision flickered to the gang. Her brow furrowed as she watched the goings on. The Ninja were stood in front of the gang, but, they weren't hostile.

"They put up a little resistance, and we've injured one" it sure didn't look like it though, "but, they have ran back" as he said it, clones were created, and they were sent running back the way they came.

"Noted, over" Hinata replied, and turned her intercom off. Her radio crackled again.

"They were lying?" Kosuke's voice, low in her ear asked.

"Yeah, they didn't fight the gang, and the ones sent back were clones. Ninja number's H-44, N-12 and M-70" She whispered back. Kosuke nodded, and whispered into his private intercom.

Hinata watched as a ninja from the hundreds of the hidden ninja she couldn't see before, and even could not be seen or found without Byakugan quickly, moved fast, even faster than the first 3 ninja, and apprehended the 3 ninja, and the gang. Hinata gave a sigh of relief, and scoped her vision around again. She gave out a few more orders, which were responded too with haste. She smiled to herself, and retracted her vision to normal for moment, blinking rapidly, as tears streamed down her cheeks, as she hadn't blinked in a while.

They were about a third the way down the road, and music, sweet sweet music, was playing from somewhere behind her. She shook her head slightly, trying to shift her weariness, and turned her face a fraction, ingesting a ninja pill. Her chakra gave a massive boost, and she activated her Byakugan again, then she froze in fear.

She flung herself backwards off Shun, landing on the cart with the coffin on, drawing her sword, and blocked a ninja's sword, who's camouflage had no effect on the Byakugan. The man suddenly disappeared, as Kosuke's secret police quickly disposed of him. Hinata returned to Shun, a moment later and not 5 seconds had passed. Asa didn't even flinch.

She took a deep breath, and began whispering feverishly into her intercom. Somehow, they'd figured out that she was the key, to the Amaya's vigilance, and had moved in while her chakra had deactivated. Plus, there must be someone very close in proximity to her, giving out orders. She looked at the troop of elders and generals with her Byakugan, turning her head to avoid the blind spot, and her eyes focused on a scarred man, who was looking off to his right, and up into the rooftops. He made a tiny signal, catching the light with a ring on his index finger. Her vision snapped to the ninja's on the rooftop, and they began to move out of line with the pre-arranged movements.

She suddenly realised with a pang, that these were different Ninja from what they had originally been, and she took a deep breath, turned her intercom off, and relayed all the information to Kosuke and Shira, ignoring their whispered cursing.

"General Arashi, he's on our list of suspicious people within Amaya. It would make sense" Kosuke said, and he sat up straight, making a signal with his hand.

They were now two thirds the way down the main street, and the Plaza could be seen clearly ahead of them, as of yet empty of spectators. Hinata cast her gaze far around her, then she searched the Plaza.

"Ah, Kosuke, the Plaza. There's horsemen and women in there. They don't look like ninja, but, they're there" she informed him, but he waved away her comment.

"Miyuki's family, from the pastures outside of Kirigakure" he said, and turned to look at Asa. This was a signal for the congregation to stop.

Asa and Shishio were on their feet in seconds, Sakura and Shino behind them respectively, both fully clothed in the Amaya gear. Asa Handed Kumo to Sakura, who quickly bundled her up close, and strapped her in, leaving her arms free. Shishio let go of Tsuyu, and pushed him behind him, and Shino placed a hand on his head. Kosuke nodded, and pulled off his mask, dropping it to the floor, and urged Shun on. His mask gave a resounding snap under Shun's hoof, and an identical one came from Maiha as she broke Shira's mask.

This, was a challenge. A challenge for anyone planning an attack, that they were ready. The Ninja congregating on the outskirts on her vision, however, showed that they were not intimidated. When Hinata told Kosuke this, he simply nodded, and flung the over cloak to his uniform off, and unsheathed hid sword, placing it across his lap. This was signal for everyone to do the same. It was risky. Doing this meant that it became clear to everyone that Hinata and Sakura were indeed women, and what build, shape and hair colour they were. They both, however complied, and unsheathed their borrowed weapons, Hinata placing it across their lap, Sakura holding it down at her side, the point almost touching the sheath of Asa's sword.

Hinata's fear suddenly kicked up, as she felt her Chakra splutter, and her vision flicker.

"Kosuke, I'm about to take the second pill" she said, and Kosuke's hand tensed on his grip.

She took a deep breath, and waited, until her Chakra had spluttered out of existence, and chomped down on the pill. As her Byakugan faded back into her vision, she was surprised to see all of the ninja, like, all of them, had immediately advanced on her deactivation. She shouted, breaking the deathly silence, making everyone jump at the sudden noise.

Then pandemonium broke out. Shun reared, screaming, not used to so much noise and movement. Hinata easily blocked about ten different Ninja that were solely intent on getting to her. Sakura was easily dodging ninja after Kumo, and Asa was in a blind rage at any Ninja who dared target her. White Shun was stood at peace, Kosuke had disappeared, Shira was protecting Shino and Tsuyu, and Maiha stood with The white Shun, nickering in fear.

The crowd of people lining the street stood perfectly still, with the addition of weapons, forming a deadly barrier. Kosuke's Secret police were flashing all over the place, taking on the more skilled, while the regular Amaya Ninja were taking on the more Regular ninja. Hinata, who was desperately trying to keep her Hyuuga talents down, and to not let the enemy ninja knock away her mask, was struggling with all ten of them.

She was proud, however, with Black Shun, who has so far managed to cripple 3 enemy ninja after her, by rearing and kicking out his legs with deadly force. She gave out a loud cry of pain, when she felt a blade scrape her back. She jumped out of her saddle, and out into an open space, holding her blade out, her chakra throbbing through her chakra highways. The Ninja left from the original 10, at least 6, stood in front of her, all with varying forms of swords. From scythe types, to Falchions, and Scimitars, broadswords long swords, and a sword that looked like giant versions of a serrated bread knife.

"Little girl, just give yourself in to us. We already know everything about you" the one with the bread knife said, striding forward. He seemed horribly familiar to Hinata, and she felt like being sick. It came flooding back to her, that this was the ninja the man in the alleyway had given her to. Someone inside the Amaya Compound must've let him get free. She wondered for a moment if he'd realised who she was. She felt her anger and resolve harden in her chest, and she straightened up, ignoring the flaring pain in her back, and raised her sword to him.

"Little piece of trash" she said, lowering the pitch of her voice, "Just give yourself in to me. And I swear, I'll let you be male the rest of your life" she said, the threat evident in her voice. The sleazy ninja merely laughed, and threw himself at her. She just sighed, blocking his sword, and twirling around him, rather like a dancer. He just wasn't skilled enough to keep up with her. She laughed evilly, revelling in the joy of overpowering someone. She knocked his sword away, and appeared behind him, grasping his shoulder, and kicking as hard as she could into the middle of his back.

A sickening crack resounded out in the now silent courtyard, as the man, he didn't even scream or shout in pain, simply collapsed to the floor, his limbs useless. Hinata froze. She really just viciously murdered a man. Quite literally with her bare hands. She tried to justify her rage, that this man had kidnapped her, but that didn't stop how ill she felt.

"Agent, return to the War horse Shun" Kosuke's voice ordered, and Hinata whirled round, to see that the battle was over. Everyone had watched her kill that man. She looked back to where the man lay, and saw he'd disappeared. The Secret police had already disposed of him and his blood. She checked all the ninja. General Arashi had disappeared, all traces of him, and many ninja were missing, but, their places were being filled even as she watched. She looked up, to see enemy Ninja on the far side of the Plaza. She flitted back to Shun's back, hissing as her back bled and seared in pain.

Hinata looked at the people on the other side of the giant golden fountain with pure hatred. Regardless, of Amaya's actions, and the way they have treated them. Those men, were responsible for Hinata's pain, and for Miyuki's death. And they had the insolence to attack.

"Kosuke. That man I killed recognised me. He was the one to handed them over to that rape house" she said, venom lining her voice. "Let me take my mask off. Please" she said, her nails digging into her palms, making them bleed.

She looked at Kosuke, and could see the indecision in his face. He slowly nodded, and sighed, facing forward, taking a deep breath, readying himself to shout. Hinata however had other ideas. She tightened Shun's reigns suddenly, and urged him forward. She felt all eyes turn to her, as she made Shun trot with pride into the Plaza. She quickly gazed around with her Byakugan, and doubled over, fiddling with her mask, but, not taking it off. She made Shun stop, and looked out across the plaza, before coolly leaning an inch forward, so a kunai whistled past her harmlessly.

"You, the arsehole traitor on the roof, I-19, get your skinny arse down here and try that again, will you!" she bellowed up to the roof, and she could see the fear evident on his face, before he disappeared from her vision, as the Secret police easily disposed of him. A shuriken, this time from the crowd of enemies across the fountain, came whirring towards her, she turned and flicked it away coolly, but, it swing back round, a product of some Jutsu, and aimed for the back of her head. She leaned forward, and it grazed the back of her head, cutting through the leather strap holding her mask in place.

She lifted her head, a scowl on her face, as her mask dropped away, and her hair tumbled out of its bind. She immediately reached up with her sword, and cut a foot off the end of her hair, leaving short like it was when she was young, so it didn't get in her way. She felt her anger rage inside her, as an war cry erupted up her throat.

Her heels dug into Shun's flank, making him scream and rear up into the sky, while she bellowed brandishing her sword.

"Filthy cowards!" she cried, cutting off bits of her clothing, allowing easier movement, as Shun's heels crashed on the pedals. He continued to rage and buck.

"You wont even dare come near me! You're all so frightened! Filthy cowards, with no respect, that's what you are!" she said, and grabbed her fallen mask, throwing it to the floor with such force, it shattered on the floor.

"Be away with you! And let us bury this poor woman in peace! Its bad enough that you were responsible for her death, but you have and insolence to disturb her funeral! Disgraceful! What did your mothers teach you as children, huh? HAVE YOU NO MANNERS?" she finally bellowed, and Shun screamed out, trying and failing again to throw her off.

"SHUN, STOP!" she shouted, and the horse immediately stopped moving. He flicked his ears, to show he was listening, but, he didn't move another inch. She could feel her command over the might horse Shun cause a ripple of discern through the crowd of Ninja, but they didn't move.

A Ninja suddenly materialised 3 metres ahead of her, on the low wall of the fountain.

"Little lady, we know all about you know, you certainly have a way with horses" he said, a sick grin plastered across his face. Hinata looked at him, her face expressionless. She suddenly displayed a small look of hurt, as Shun went forward slowly. When she was a few feet away, Shun's head lowered in front of this man, so Hinata could look him in the eyes.

"You, my good man" she said, and her expression suddenly turned to hatred. "HAVE GOT NOTHING!" she shouted, and Shun leaped forward, his hooves' connecting with them mans chest, as he leaped over the low wall, crushing the man easily. She urged him on through the water, realising this wasn't the most brilliant idea, since she was in the water country. She rode on anyway, speeding towards the crowd, water splashing vertically upwards beside Shun's massive body. The water around her, suddenly rose, and tunnelled around her, towering over her threateningly.

"SUITON: SUIRYUUDAN NO JUTSU!"

Hinata looked over her shoulder, to see Kosuke stood in the middle of a swirling tower of water, which quickly formed into a dragon. He stood with a ferocious look on his face. The water around her dissipated, and Hinata looked forward again, to see a furious Ninja stood at the head of the crowd. She shouted, as Shun neared the edge of the pool, and aimed for him.

"COVER HER!" she heard Shira's voice call out, and the secret police appeared running beside her, through the water, and Shun leaped easily over the low wall, and thundered towards the crowd.

Now, you must realised the situation here. Here, was a deranged woman who just snapped the back of a fully grown man, and crushed another with her horse, with jagged, wild hair, water, sweat and blood pouring off her, on top of a fierce, very large horse, with blood splattered all over it from the people he'd crippled, with a towering dragon of water behind her, being closely backed up with shadowy figures of extremely skilled ninja. It was a frightening sight, and the enemies didn't stick around long enough to see the fate of their ninja boss at the hand of this woman.

In the end, Hinata couldn't kill the man, she pulled Shun off to the side, and slashed down his back, a scar identical to her's, and he collapsed, as the dark police force sprinted past her in chase of the retreating Ninja. Hinata, breathing heavily, close to fainting, looked up to see Kosuke release the jutsu. He was furious.

She groaned, and pulled Shun's reigns round. Kosuke flitted forward, and bellowed at her,

"K-94, you get your sorry ass over here now, before I drag you by your newly cut hair!" he spat out, and Hinata sighed but didn't move.

"I'm not under your jurisdiction Amaya-san, I will not accept any punishment for my actions" she said, puffing herself out. Kosuke looked at her, alarmed for a second, before his face turned sour.

"K-94" he began, his tone warning, as he reached for his sword. "I swear to god-" he was cut off by explosive cry, and the sounds of galloping.

A younger version of the White Shun, galloped in, with a young man sat bare-backed upon him. "My dear cousin, you do anything to this girl, and _I _swear to god, I'll kick your ass" he said, but without venom. Kosuke stopped, and Hinata watched the indecision pass across his face again.

"Remember where you are, Kosuke-san, this is your mother's, my auntie's funeral. Leave it be" he said, with all the wisdom of an old sage. Kosuke's eyes connected with Hinata's.

"Mask up, I'll speak with you later" he said, and disappeared, only to reappear next to Asa, very far away, back at the entrance to the Plaza. Before Hinata couldn't even let out a sigh of relief before an applause erupted from the horsemen and women, the ones who were Miyuki's family, then it stretched to the entire crowd.

Hinata, who was exhausted, gripped her reigns tightly, and urged Shun forward to thank the stranger.

"Miyuki's Nephew" she called timidly, and he turned. She was momentarily phased by his striking handsome looks, as he pulled the gigantic white horse round to face her.

"Ah, K-94 I believe, my name is Natsuo Maiha" he said, his voice loosing the hardness in which he spoke to Kosuke with. "I thank you on behalf of all of Miyuki's Family, for doing that. This funeral was too boring for her anyway, they should know better than to throw a silent funeral for Miyuki" he said, and grinned at her.

Silence fell across the whole street, as the Secret police returned, talked briefly to Kosuke and Asa, before disappearing again. Kosuke, who had hauled himself back onto the White Shun, urged the cart forward again. Hinata, who agreed with Natsuo, thought it was a shame that Miyuki was being remembered in silence. She brought Shun up beside Natsuo, and she filled her lungs, and sang Miyuki's lullaby at the top of her lungs. Everyone turned to her again, and she felt her embarrassment rise, and her voice faltered, until Natsuo's deep harmonising tones joined in with her high sweet ones.

Miyuki's family immediately joined in, urging their horses into step beside Miyuki's cart. Hinata, feeling slightly lightheaded, continued to sing, as the procession stopped in front of the Fountain. Kosuke jumped off Shun, and into the water, not bothering to stay atop it. He placed his hands in the water, muttering, before performing hand signs faster than Hinata could keep up, even with her sharp eyes. He suddenly threw his hands into the air, causing the water to explode up around him, making birds of water take flight into the air.

Hinata followed Natsuo, who urged his white horse to jump lightly into the fountain, and to walk through it. They joined the procession, and Yamato, who suddenly appeared from wherever he had been, knelt down where Miyuki had rested as she entered labour, and made a single white flower burst out the cobbles, and grow bigger, taller than it would've naturally. The people nearest them, still singing Miyuki's lullaby, pointed in amazement. Kosuke turned, and looked up to the sky.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" he said, and threw his hand up to the sky. Hinata knew this technique, and it was a water explosion technique, but, he didn't aim it at the fountain. Hinata looked up, to see the mist above them, suddenly thrown outwards, revealing a twilight sky, with stars just beginning to appear. Hinata, who had stopped paying attention to her singing had begun to sing her lullaby, which was very similar to Miyuki's. The people around her immediately changed in according to her version, and they gathered closer to the chariot as the lamps of Kirigakure began to light up of their own accord, as the light faded. Hinata stretched her back, her voice dying away as her throat became sore and dry. She swayed in her saddle, as pain exploded across her back from the deep gash there.

"K-49? Are you alright?" a far away voice whispered to her. She nodded before, her vision spun, blurred, and she gripped on tightly to Shun's mane of long hair, and she fell sideways.

Kosuke, during all of this, felt like he was having several minor heart attacks throughout the entire time. He'd watched, helpless to aid her, as Hinata defended herself from ten men, before she got hurt, and had to escape. He felt his gut turn over, as he watched the fear in her eyes when she recognised the man who had handed her in.

He felt absolute fear for her as she went forward, and bared herself to her enemies, provoking them. He had to sit there, and not move, not act to help her, again, when her mask came free, and Shun, with all his power, tried to dislodge her. He was actually scared, for her, and of her, when she started screaming at his enemies. But, when she actually crushed than man, admittedly Shun did it, but she made him. He couldn't hold himself back as she stupidly ran into water.

He threw himself off of Shun, and sprinted forward, frantically performing hand signs, as a tunnel of water appeared around her. He threw all of his chakra into the water, to get greater control over it. He had to fight to get control, but, as he did, he shouted out the command, and pulled the water from around her, and into a dragon, ready to attack.

He tried to convey how unhappy he was about her running into danger when she looked back, her jagged uneven hair, flying out everywhere, but she ignored him. His fear for her life raised as she was still galloping towards around 30 ninja in a crowd. The shout to back her up erupted from his throat before he could stop it. He watched in horror, thinking she was going to brutally murder some more men, but, she just delivered a gash to the head man.

When she turned to look back at him, his worry for her quickly turned into anger, and he immediately made her into just another subordinate in his mind. He was brought back to reality by his cousin, Natsuo, a farmer, but, a viscous fighter, and was like a male version of Miyuki.

He stood now, looking into the sky, and feeling like he's calmed down enough to talk to Hinata normally again. But when he turned he couldn't see her. He scanned the crowd in a panic, and noticed Natsuo had disappeared too. He watched as the young Shun, with an empty saddle, was walking with purpose by himself off towards the dimly lit side of the plaza.

Kosuke slipped off without anyone noticing to follow Shun. He snuck up on the horse, and leaped off to the top of a low building, and looked down on Natsuo, carefully placing Hinata onto a bench, his white horse standing patiently off to the side. Kosuke's heart leapt as he noticed Natsuo was covered in blood that wasn't there before. Kosuke leapt down beside him, scaring Natsuo, and place his hand on her head.

"Kosuke! What do you think you're doing?" Natsuo demanded, and Kosuke remembered that Natsuo didn't know.

"Shut up Natsuo" he said, tiredness coming through in his voice. He knocked his intercom on.

"Yuuna, can you come here please" he said, and Sakura could be seen running towards him, from the other side of the plaza. "Quicker please, we have a situation" he growled, and she disappeared, and appeared next to Kosuke, and Gasped as she saw Hinata. She knelt down, and began to heal Hinata. Kosuke stood, and turned his steely gaze on Natsuo.

"You've seen _nothing_, Natsuo, you hear me? These two girls, you don't know them. This is terribly important, and you have to listen carefull-"

"Kosuke, there's an eavesdropper" Hinata's weak voice called, and she pointed to the roof.

Kosuke swore loudly, and launched himself up, and chased the man about 3 metres before, he kicked out and broke the man's shin, making him crash to the floor, where Kosuke killed him swiftly, before returning to Natsuo.

"Now, I've just killed that man. I don't even know if he was a spy or not, but, he was listening, so he was a liability, on my side or not. Now, Natsuo, I love you, and you're my family, so, I'm trying very hard not to kill you, but, I will hit you so hard, you wont even know yourself any more, if you breath a word about the girls you've met this day. Please promise me that" he said, and let his desperation come into his voice as he looked up into the striking face of his cousin.

Natsuo's face softened and he nodded, as Hinata dragged herself up from the bench, healed. Kosuke nodded, and swooped down, kneeling in front of Hinata.

"Yuuna, Natsuo, go back to the festival. We'll be with you presently" he said, looking hard at the bench. Sakura protested heavily, but, Hinata merely waved them both away.

"Hinata" Kosuke said, and paused, before heaving a sigh. "you scared the absolute shit out of me today" he said simply, before looking at her, as a small smile graced her face.

"Don't you put yourself in so much danger again, my heart can't take it! I must've had about 5 heart attacks in the last half hour" he said, and his shoulders drooped. Hinata giggled, and patted Kosuke's hair,

"Calm, Kosuke, I'm alright" she said, smiling to him. Kosuke looked at her, then suddenly shook his head as if revolted by her.

"Hinata, you broke a man's back today" he said, looking at her. Her eyes flashed hurt.

"And does that have anything to do with you? He would've killed me" she said, drawing herself in. Kosuke pulled back, "of course its to do with me, he was the only one killed today" he said, and Hinata gawped at him

"He was not, there were many men that your special police took out" she accused,

"But, I gave them orders not to kill. I did not want lives wasted on my mother's funeral day" he said, his voice gentle. Her eyes were drawn to the floor.

"and that man on the roof?" she said in a small voice.

"I need to protect the bigger mission" he sighed, and looked at the girl in front of him.

What had made her like she was now? A broken soul, who effortlessly, and without hesitation, killed a man who had hurt her. This kind of thought process was what a person native to Kirigakure would do, not the sweet timid girl from Konoha.

"Hinata, what happened?" he asked in a low voice.

Her pale eyes snapped to him, a hard quality to them, and he suddenly made the connection to her and the other Hyuuga's he had met before. That odd stony look, of affront, as if every word you were saying to them caused them great offence.

"I happened, Kosuke. I was so…_angry _I just, couldn't stop myself. I had to react. I wanted to shout and scream, and to hit things, and break things, and to use my power to its full deadly potential, those men, made me feel so worthless and trapped, and I've been coiled up inside myself, ever since my mother died, I can feel it now. Every word my father's ever said to me, the beating my cousin gave me in the Chuunin exam, every fucking mission where I've failed miserably, its just added to my own inner frustration, and I just snapped" she said, and placed her face in her hands.

Kosuke remembered this well. He, too, had had his moment of complete and utter frustration, and has unleashed it in anyway possible.

"Hinata, next time you feel like that. Come and find me, I'll help you get rid of it. But, don't release it on people. Never on a person. My father taught me not to take your anger out on people, because being a ninja means you can break a person easier than you can if you were just an ordinary human" he said, and Hinata nodded.

"I know Kosuke. Oh, what's wrong with me Kosuke?" Hinata groaned, and suddenly flung her arms round him. Kosuke stiffened at the contact for a second, before relaxing and pulling her in tight.

"Its not you, Hinata"

"Its this country."


	15. The Next Step

Chapter 15: The Next Stage

The Rest of Miyuki's Funeral, gave everyone a sense of closure. Ninja can not function without letting go of their woes and worries. This is why People invented the Idea of burying their dead. Because, they felt better, once they couldn't see their loved one's abandoned carcass.

However, there was a matter of cleaning up. Blood everywhere, mostly Hinata's, and 100's of traitorous Ninja to be put in jail somewhere, plus, the Mysterious Female Ninja. Hinata's stunt had caused a huge ripple in Kirigakure. Here, a woman, Amaya undoubtedly, openly challenging the Rebels. People wanted desperately to know who she was. And, that caused a problem for Amaya.

No-one in their right mind, however, would link the timid farmer's daughter, Aoko Kimi, to the ferocious merciless Ninja, who was instantly infamous. However, the appearance of the Konoha people was now taken into serious account. What _were_ they really doing here?

So, Sakura and Hinata had went to great lengths to create hair extensions for Hinata to wear, something they were particularly proud of, and as long as a child didn't yank on her hair, she could pass off her long hair easily. However, at the end of the day, Hinata was still left with a mane of wild, jaggedly cut hair, which she had to attempt to wash. The extensions tangled her hair into such knots, she contemplated just cutting it all off, and buying a wig.

Hinata also found everything she'd hated about herself a couple of months ago, had come flooding back to her. Her stuttering, her shyness, her dislike of crowds. She was spending more and more time in the stables, just, idly looking after Shun. And it was on such an occasion, when Hinata was trying to forcefully remove a Tic from Shun's flank, when Asa stepped into the Stable, cradling Kumo.

Hinata turned, and smiled to him, nodding her head.

"H-How c-can I help, Asa-s-san?" she asked, her voice slight, and quiet. She gave him her full attention and manners, but, she would very much like it if he would leave her alone. She was still emotionally wounded from her own Murderous actions.

"Hhmm, I wanted to see how you were, Kimi-san. Your family are very worried about you. I'm sure they'd be here to see you every day, however, they are running errands, and tasks, and have jobs here now. You're fine as you are, by the way. For now" he said, and gave her a small grin.

Hinata blushed a deep red, feeling foolish at the fact that she had expected not to have to do actual work while staying here. "You've had a rough few weeks Kimi, and I know you're hurting inside, but, I must make the unpopular command. Kosuke doesn't have the heart, nor the inclination to order you to work, so, I shall take that responsibility, since he refuses to" he said, a note of finality in his voice. Hinata's heart dropped, as she realised she'd be forced to leave the stables and do work, with other ninja's or maids of the Amaya household. She was in the middle of having a minor panic attack, when Asa's voice filled her mind again. She snapped back to attention, to find out what work she'd be expected to do.

"So, that's why I've spoken to Huyu, and arranged for you to work here, in these stables. Now, it'll be dangerous, and you'll be looking after young Horses, and training them into a Top Amaya horse, and we expect the best. But" he said, and his eyes floated up to Shun stood in his stable behind her "if you can manage him, then, no young foal with attitude shall be able to boss you around, Kimi-san" he said, and winked at her. Hinata could not hide her smile, as she exclaimed and began to stutter her greatest thanks. He raised a finger to interrupt her, "now Kimi, I know you'd rather not work, but, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put my foot down" he said, and winked to her.

She grinned and bowed deeply, "thank you Amaya-sama!" she said, straightening up and saluting. He just shook his head and turned leaving the stable whistling.

Hinata found working with young foals who thought they owned the place, to be very therapeutic. After telling off a stable boy for trying to move an angry Shun, and making sure all the Foals knew _she_ was boss, life went smoothly. She'd get up early, Exercise Shun and the rest of the horses his age, and put them through their paces, attaching their saddles and handed them onto Ninja to take them out on exercise. She'd then get the foals out, exercise them, then start training them. That took the rest of the day, and afterwards, she'd let them loose into a field, before saddling up the older horses, to take them out for a walk.

She was just and so doing this, when she heard a commotion, out in the courtyard. She was tempting Maiha out of her stable, when an argument erupted. She told Maiha to stay, and slunk towards the door, and peered out. Two men where having an argument, and on had her back to her, the other was Natsuo, Kosuke's cousin. She bit her lip, hoping that Natsuo would be okay. From what she could make out, they were talking in general code words, and the other man was becoming very frustrated. Apparently, he wanted information on something, and was threatening Natsuo for it. Hinata felt that she must save Natsuo. She looked around, and kicked over a bucket, before hiding and tried to pick up the oats that she didn't realise where inside the bucket.

She cursed, and began to scrape the oats back into the bucket. A shadow fell over her and she froze, spinning round to see a figure disappearing round the corner, and Natsuo looking at her with worry. Hinata gave a small smile, placing the bucket to the side, and looked round the corner to see the other man. He was gone.

"You alright, Natsuo-san?" she asked politely, and he just smiled, making her blush at his striking features.

"Yes, Aoko-san, I'm perfectly fine. I just came up to help with the evening walk. I've brought my own Stallion, but, I usually pull on a few Colts on a rope. Not enough riders willing to help at this time of the night. So…" he said, and turned to look into the stable. She smiled, and nodded.

"You're early though, we've still got half an hour to saddle up. I'm doing it so early, because it takes forever to convince Maiha to move" she said, and stroked the mare's head with love. Natsuo looked over, and Hinata inspected him. His beauty was lost to the worried he showed on his face, and his shoulders drooped making him look half his size. She wondered what that other man was doing to him, and whether or not she should query about it, or tell Kosuke.

He looked like a lost child, and it made her heart break just seeing the sad look on his face. Before she knew was she was doing, she had walked over and have hugged him. Well, she was so short in comparison, that she merely wrapped her arms round his waist. He wasn't like Kosuke. He was tall, yes, and he was muscular, yes, but, he didn't stiffen at her, but, wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Oh, Kimi-san, I'm okay" he said, humour in his voice, and he squeezed her.

"But, you look so sad!" she said, and was surprised to find that her eyes were wet, and her voice was cracking. He suddenly laughed, a heart warming sound, and let go of her, and couched down holding her shoulders at arms length.

"Kimi-chan, you don't need to worry about me. I'm just thinking of a sick uncle. On my mother's side, so, none of Kosuke's relatives, before you start worrying. Now, shall we saddle up these horses?" he asked, and gave her a dazzling smile. She smiled shyly back, and nodded, feeling a little foolish. She turned, and stroked Maiha again, a fierce blush on her face. She was glad she'd acquainted Natsuo. He was a good man. She smiled to her horse, before pulling her out to saddle her up.

She completely forgot to ask Natsuo who that man was, or what he was trying to find out.

As she urged Maiha out of the Kirigakure West gate, the one backing onto the valleys, she realised suddenly the size of Kirigakure. She glanced back at the colossal gates, to see the huge wall that stretched from one valley wall to another, and the Shirakawa River disappeared off _somewhere_ into the city. The valley was quite high up in comparison to the rest of the city, and the gate was level with the Amaya compound, which was very high up. She took a deep breath, and looked back into the breath taking valley. She was about to urge Maiha to catch up with Natsuo, when an Amaya Horse suddenly trotted up beside her. Hinata glanced back to the Rider, so see a young man, thin, average sized, with messy brown hair. He looked at her without compassion, before his eyes roved over her body.

Hinata's hair stood up on her neck, and she turned away quickly, ignoring him. He eventually got annoying, and she turned back to him.

"Can I help you?" she asked, pulling her courage together enough not to stutter. She saw a flicked of some emotion, before she was blinded by a brilliant smile.

"Ah, sorry, no, I mean, I didn't mean to be so rude" he said, and came level with her. "

However, you can tell me, if you can that is, what the name of the Mizukage of Kirigakure is?" he demanded, in a rude way. Hinata blinked at him. She had absolutely no idea. Not a clue. And, what was more confusing, was that this man, who'd she'd never seen at all before now, was suddenly demanding this of her. She glanced around at the other riders, but they were giving the both of them a wide berth, and were throwing shifty looks at the man.

"No, I cannot. I'm not from round here. But, can you tell me _your_ name, since you know mine. It's only polite. Or, are you unacquainted with the concept of manners, since you are treating me with such rudeness" she snapped back at him. She was surprised when he chuckled at her.

"My name is Oki Setsuna, Aoko Kimi-san. Please to meet you" he said and bowed his head. Hinata just shrugged and bowed back. She couldn't ever get used to the sheer amount of confusing weirdo's this place seemed to hold.

"Come, Kimi-san, I want to show you something!" he said, and urged his horse onwards. Being a young horse, he hesitated, but, Setsuna controlled him well.

"Your skills with handling horses is impressive, Setsuna-san" Hinata commented, as she followed him towards the head of their group of around 60 horses or so.

"Why thank you Kimi-san. Now, follow me up this trail a ways" he said, and urged his horse into a trot. Hinata, curious yet cautious, followed him at a slightly slower pace. A sudden horses' scream, and a woman's strangled cry, made her whirl in the saddle, dragging poor Maiha's head round with her.

What she saw, was Shun, whom she now recognised by a white diamond shape between his eyes, freaking out and throwing his weight around.

"Maiha!" she shouted, and pointed, and Maiha leapt down the tricky slope with expert precision. Hinata hadn't realised until now, that Maiha was a mountain horse, born and bred for fast mountain travel.

"Everyone, step back!" she shouted, and they hastily complied, pulling their own horses back out of danger of this massive colt. She abandoned Maiha's back when she got close, and stood in front of Shun.

"Shun, if you don't calm down, _right now_, I swear to god…" she warned her voice dangerous. Shun immediately has his full attention on her, and was pawing the ground. Once Hinata was sure he'd calmed down sufficiently enough, she went over to inspect him. What she found made her heart thunder.

"They were attacked!" She shouted, and turned her head to scan the mountains.

Shun bore a gash down his flank, and upon further investigation, a single Kunai was embedded deep into the damp grass on the valley floor. She looked around, but didn't use her Byakugan, and realised that whoever had attempted to harm Shun, must've been either trying to kill off the Amaya's best horses, or aiming for the rider.

Her breath stopped, as she realised the last person to ride Shun in public, Was her. They were trying to kill the mysterious Female rider. And she's given herself away as being able to control Shun. Her eyes scanned the crowd, before; she looked again at the wound on his flank. Without thinking much on it, only that she needed Shun to freak out again, was that she moved to stroke his head, while dragging a nail on the inside of his cut.

Shun immediately bucked his back legs out, screaming again, and then reared on his front. Hinata threw herself out of the way, but felt his rock hard hoof connect with her shoulder. She heard a sickening crack, but she continued running. Shun calmed down again, faster this time, and was rounded up by stable boys. Ninja had already ascended into the hills to search out the culprit.

Hinata staggered a little, over to Maiha, and looked around a bit, before dragging herself up onto the speckled mare's back. She hissed in pain, knowing she'd fractured her shoulder in some way. She had to get out of this crowd. She hated crowds, especially ones staring at her, which they were now she'd made herself conspicuous. Her right shoulder burned in protest as she gathered Maiha's reigns to her, and shouted a few random orders to them, they lost interest in her.

She pulled Maiha's reigns tight, and directed her up and over a hill, following a random track. As soon as she was out of sight and earshot, she doubled over and groaned in pain, cursing her bad luck in this country.

"Hinata" a soft voice called. She whirled, expecting to see, maybe Kosuke or Shira. Instead she was looking directly at Natsuo and Setsuna. She gritted her teeth together, and pulled herself upright, pushing her chin into the air.

"My name is Aoko Kimi, thank you very much" she said curtly. Natsuo chuckled, and Setsuna looked at Natsuo questioningly.

"Setsuna-sama, you see now? Very feisty" he said, smiling warmly at Hinata. Hinata felt exhausted, but, she was annoyed at Natsuo for breaking Kosuke's promise. She shifted in the saddle, her right arm dropping uselessly. She tightened her grip on the reigns.

"Natsuo-san, Setsuna-san, excuse me" she said, and swung Maiha round to gallop away. However, Setsuna jumped off his horse, and blocked her way.

"Now, Hinata-san, I'd like to ask you a few things" he said, his eyes suspicious.

"I'm sorry, are you talking to me?" she said, and suddenly wished she were riding Shun.

"I Know Kosuke-kun doesn't want you to say anything, but you can trust me, I'm a very important person" Setsuna said, putting his arms out wide. Hinata tugged at Maiha's reigns.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I can't trust anyone in this godforsaken town. I wander too close to a god damn _alleyway_ and I get kidnapped and raped. You really think you can gain my trust by dropping a name, and telling me I can _trust_ you? I do hope you're not that delusional, Setsuna-san. You wont last 5 fucking seconds in this shit hole" she said, and waved vaguely to indicate Kirigakure, before, slapping Maiha's rear, and making her leap up the valley, and back the way she came. She had the advantage over rocky ground, since Maiha was far more suited to it, than their Amaya horses, but, she would still much rather prefer to be riding Shun's comforting bulk, than the elegant sleek form of Maiha.

"Hinata-san, wait!" she heard Natsuo shout, and the cursed, before pulling Maiha's reigns round, and swinging to face him.

"You traitorous bastard! You deserve what's coming to you!" she shouted back, and set off full pelt again. She felt her tears streaming down her face, as the pain in her shoulder increased as she rode over the rocky ground. She saw Kirigakure's wall in the distance, and felt the hopelessness of it all, as she was still a couple of miles away, and while Maiha was a strong horse, she was getting old, and couldn't handle such distances. She descended again reluctantly into the valley, slowing Maiha to a trot.

She looked around, not daring to activate her Byakugan, before bursting into tears. She wasn't sure for what reason she was crying, but, she couldn't stop her flood of tears. She suddenly felt a presence, close, and sly. She kept her head down, but, she pretended to calm down. She wasn't a ninja. She shouldn't know that that person was there. She pulled Maiha's reigns tight, and urged her on again, but leaning over to her right slightly as her shoulder pained her again.

She stopped, as the pain started to become unbearable, and hurriedly stripped off her coat. As she peeled back the shoulder, it was revealed to her that Shun's hooves had opened her skin, shattered her bone, and given her a hell of a lot of bruising. She cursed, and felt the presence approach her rapidly. She looked up wearily, not caring anymore who it was, and whether or not they wanted to kill her.

"HINATA!" Kosuke's voice rang out, and relief flooded through her.

"Kosuke…" she said, a small smile gracing her lips, her ran up to her, and helped her get down Maiha lightly.

"What the hell happened?" he demanded, holding her up.

"Shun him and his rider…attacked, Ninja. I had to make, like I wasn't a ninja…" she said, and forced herself to concentrate. "Not important, listen now. Natsuo-san told some guy called Oki Setsuna, about me…" she took a deep breath, "wanted to ask me some questions" she finished, and swallowed down some vomit. She heard Kosuke's frustrated growl, and she squeaked as he lifted her into Maiha's saddle, but strapped her in, so she couldn't fall.

"Right, you continue back to Kirigakure, I'll be with you in less than 2 minutes…" his voice drifted off, and Hinata looked down at him. He was staring intently at something behind her, and although it pained her to turn, she spun round in the saddle anyway. Natsuo and Setsuna were there, on their horses, who were panting heavily, along with Shun on a lunge rope.

Kosuke looked at the two men in front of him, with exasperation. This was meant to be a relatively simple mission, but, things were getting far too complicated; now Setsuna had become involved. Kosuke took a step forward, and bowed deeply at the waist at Setsuna.

"Mizukage-sama" he said shortly, and heard a small gasp escape from Hinata. Evidently, she had little to no idea as to the identity of the water countries' Kage. "I apologise for any inconvenience my young cousin may have caused you. She's had bad experiences in Kirigakure so far. She's gone a bit mad. I thought that working with horses would calm her, you see. That's what she does back home, she looks after the horses there" he said, his voice monotone, and his face expressionless.

Setsuna nodded, "Evidently" he said, he voice equally boring. Kosuke bowed to him again, and kept his eyes off Natsuo. Setsuna may be the Mizukage, but there was a very good reason why the Amaya had decided against getting the Mizukage involved.

Because, the problem was, that it was Mist Ninja vs. Mist Ninja, and the Mizukage could not take sides, for or against both such large organisations. Plus, it was rumoured that Setsuna didn't much like the special forces of The Amaya, because they were such a strong force, and they often took the law into their owns hands, without confronting the Mizukage about it.

"Setsuna-sama, if I may" Natsuo's voice cut across the silence coolly. Setsuna merely smiled to Natsuo, giving him clearance to talk. "I believe this girl has something to do with the incident that occurred at Amaya Miyuki's funeral" he said, ignoring Kosuke's reaction to the mention of Miyuki. Setsuna chuckled, looking at a dazed Hinata.

"I have no doubt, that this girl has _something_ to do with a lot of things" Setsuna, swung himself off his horse, and made his way over to Hinata. Kosuke, panicking slightly, grabbed Maiha's reigns, and pulled the horse closer to him. Setsuna ignore his actions, and went to Hinata's side.

"Hinata-san" he began, smiling warmly at her.

"Aoko Kimi, jerk" she hissed back, and Kosuke froze. She was in pain, yes, but, that was just idiotic, treating the Mizukage like that. However, Setsuna chuckled, not fazed by her anger.

"Of course. Why are you angry with me, Kimi-san?" he asked pleasantly.

"Because it's your fault. Why can't you control your subjects? Why must women be afraid of alleyways? You've got the best Ninja force of all the 5 nations!" she said, gesturing at Kosuke, referring to the Amaya, "yet, you find it incredibly difficult to control criminal action going on under your own nose! Good Christ, no wonder you're going prematurely gray! If I was as useless as you, I'd have no hair left!" Hinata complained, the words tumbling out of her mouth.

Setsuna's face darkened for a second, but, he puffed his chest out, gripped her ankle tightly.

"My dear _Kimi_, I will very much like to get to know you better. You certainly are an interesting character. I wont take no for an answer" he said, and he grinned, in what Hinata thought to be a rather evil way.

"Mizukage-sama, please. Aoko-san is injured. We need to get her to a hospital" he said, and turned his head to look at Setsuna. Setsuna looked at Kosuke, and smiled suddenly,

"Of course, Kosuke my lad, take Shun back with you, if you will" he said, and beckoned Natsuo to bring Shun. When Natsuo dismounted his Amaya horse, and pulled an unwilling Shun forward, Kosuke felt a sudden and unpleasant hatred for the man.

Kosuke strode forward, and patted Shun to calm him down, before turning to glare at Natsuo. Natsuo didn't even look ashamed of himself, and Kosuke suddenly realised he was simply naïve. He'd have to teach him to know better soon enough. Kosuke turned to take Shun for Hinata to ride, when his heart gave a start, that Hinata was already off of Maiha, and Setsuna was whispering to her.

Hinata watched helpless as Kosuke marched away from her, and couldn't make her voice work when Setsuna "helped" her off of Maiha.

"Hinata-san, I _will_ find out what's going on here. You're from Konoha, that much is obvious, but, I don't know _why_ you'd be here, and staying at the Amaya's household. Are you a ninja? A good chance, you have the right build for it" he said, his voice smooth. She shuddered as his eyes scanned her body.

"Are you a spy? Unlikely, but there's always a chance. Your older brother is certainly suspicious. I've tried research, but, there's not many photo's easily accessible, and I'd really rather not aggravate Konoha. But. You. I have a special interest in you…" he said, and leaned back a bit to study her face. He nodded as if confirming something, and then, Kosuke was there, and had hold of Hinata's arm, and pulled her away a bit.

"Mizukage-sama" he said shortly, and swiftly lifted Hinata up and onto Shun's back, before clambering up after her. "Please look after Maiha" he said shortly, and, grabbed the reigns, and making Shun burst into a gallop. Kosuke kept tight hold of Hinata, seeing as her body was becoming more and more limp as she slowly lost consciousness. She cursed the girl in between his arms, and her innate ability to get into trouble at every opportunity.

"Hinata…" he whispered, and her head jerked up, and she turned to look at him with bleary eyes."Kosuke?" she questioned and he shook his head at her innocence.

"Didn't I say, like, a day ago, that you shouldn't do things to make me worry about you?" he said, and chuckled. He felt Hinata exhale a laugh, and she shook her head.

"This totally wasn't my fault, just get my bloody shoulder fixed, PLEASE, it's absolutely KILLING me!" she said, and Kosuke frowned, and urged Shun on more.

"Shun, hurry please" Hinata said, leaning forward to talk to him easier, "I'm in a lot of pain here, that kick you gave me really hurt. If you hurry, I can get better easier, and I can give you extra special treatment" she said, slightly lightheaded now, and surprisingly, Shun changed his gait, of which he only knew 4, to a different one, which he hadn't been taught, and he slunk along the floor, with surprising speed.

Kosuke leaned forward to help the being streamlined process and they'd covered the miles with amazing speed, and Kosuke wondered at Hinata's ability to bring out the best in people, AND in horses. As they approached the gates, Kosuke unsheathed his sword, and held it horizontal, then flicked it to a vertical position, signalling a minor emergency. The gates swung open easily, and Shun flew into the streets, and Kosuke made him slow down as he navigated the small streets, and let him speed up again as the streets opened up as the got near the Plaza. He took a few detours to avoid the larger parts of the crowds, but pulled Shun round to the back door of the hospital, and loosely tied him to a post, instead ordering him to stay, and not move for anything, before swinging Hinata into his arms in a bridal style.

She squeaked in protest, but he ignored it, striding into the hospital. Thankfully, it wasn't busy, so they didn't have to wait too long. Back in the hospital room, on a different floor to last time, Hinata lay with a drip in her arm, staring at the ceiling, watching her vision spin from lack of blood. She had to wait while she got her blood back, and she was beginning to feel nervous. But, she took comfort in that Kosuke was asleep next to her on a chair.

She learned why Kosuke was so tired was because he was doing a night shift guarding the rear wall of Kirigakure, and had just finished his shift, when he spotted the commotion. He didn't know it was Hinata at the time, but, he offered to go see what had happened anyway.

She took a deep breath, looked to her left, at the door, then to her right, at a peaceful Kosuke, before rolling towards him. She watched him for a while, before he heaved a sigh, and opened his eyes to look at her.

"Hinata" he began, but Hinata shook her head.

"No" she said, and sighed, shrugging her shoulders. He frowned at her, and shifted his chair so he was facing her. "No, is not going to get you out of me telling you off" he said, and she sighed, sitting up, being careful of her drip.

"Well, I don't want to be told off!" she replied curtly, turning her head away from him.

"Hinata" he began again, and then cut off her reply, "I can understand you were in a lot of pain back then, but, you told off the Mizukage! That's, like, oh, I don't know, the worst thing you could do!" he said, exasperated. Hinata sniffed, and looked at him stubbornly.

"It was not. He's the Mizukage; he should be used to constructive criticism"

"That was hardly constructive criticism! You called him useless! You insulted him…!" he paused, then stood swiftly, sitting next to her, leaning closer so he could speak in a hushed voice.

"He's the enemy Hinata, I'm sure of it. He's the one organising those fiends that attacked us at Mother's funeral. Don't you get it? We were trying to keep you four from Konoha out of the way, keep it low key. You've just given yourself a great big red flag to wave around if they ever do attack" he said, and Hinata's battered memory suddenly recalled what Setsuna had said to her when he pulled her off Maiha.

"Ah, well, he's pretty sure we're ninjas and/or spies anyway" she said, as if that was consolation to Kosuke. When she told him what Setsuna had said to her, he ran his hand through his hair, and heaved a sigh. He stood and went to the window, and suddenly punched the wall with a massive amount of force, making Hinata jump.

"Kosuke!" she said, shocked at his suddenly violent behaviour.

"That man…" he said, and the hatred in those two words surprised Hinata, "Special interest in you, eh…?" he stared out the window again."He brings out the worst in people, its people like him, is the reason Kirigakure is in such a state" he shook his head, and turned to Hinata.

She was surprised by a note of fear in his voice, as Kosuke wasn't the type of person for fear. She looked at His chocolate eyes, as they scowled into space, while he contemplated something.

"He planned it" Kosuke suddenly said, and Hinata's attention flicked back to him, "he planned your kidnapping and rape. It was for some reason, he wanted that boss off the streets, and, something to do with you. To test whether or not you were a ninja? Quite possibly" he mused, and Hinata grimaced as he talked in much the same way as Setsuna.

"You talk like him" she said, disturbed. He looked at her vaguely, not really paying much attention anymore. "We were in school together, I was in his class" he said, and Hinata gawped at him. "But he's older than you!" she said, and he laughed, and just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, yeah, right, you're a genius, I remember now…" she scowled, and folded her arms, disgruntled at this new piece of information.

"He's the same age as Shira anyway. Proved himself a genius in certain battles and stuff. Became the Mizukage because of outstanding feats and a prestigious family" he explained loosely, before sitting back down next to her.

"Is your family an issue here?" she asked, quizzically.

"Yeah, but, you can become Mizukage on valour and feats alone. Prestigious family helps though. Amaya rarely become Mizukage's though. We're brilliant and all" he flashed a cheeky grin when he said it, "But, we don't become Mizukage, since we're already the secret police. D'you understand?" he asked, turning to her.

"Yeah, you're rather a lot like Uchiha was before the massacre by Itachi, without the Kekkei Genkai" she said, and Kosuke laughed loudly, before slinging an arm across her shoulders. Hinata thanked the gods that her shoulder had been healed already, or that would've really hurt.

"Is Itachi what his name was? I never knew" he said, and yawned not bothering to cover his mouth, so Hinata got a nice view of his teeth, and a whiff of an un-brushed mouth.

"Yeah, his father, Fugaku if I've remembered correctly, was the head of Konoha's police force, and he had a little brother Sasuke-kun, who's my age. Itachi is like you, like a genius who was an ANBU member by the time he was 11 or some silly age like that. Anyway, apparently, Sasuke had a lot of pressure by his father to be like Itachi, which was very difficult, Since Itachi was extraordinary. But, anyway, Sasuke doted upon his brother, even though he had all this pressure, and, the story goes anyway, that one night, Sasuke was coming home, and his whole entire clan had been completely wiped out by Itachi, and Itachi encouraged him to hate him, to become stronger. Well, that's the story anyway, but, it never made much sense to me, since I can't understand such actions" she said, and shrugged.

Kosuke stayed quiet, even after she'd finished.

"Hinata, you think, Tsuyu…?" he said, and looked at her, a real fear in his eyes. Hinata blinked at him, "Well, unless you _want_ to massacre your clan" she said, and raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, not me, _him_, because, he's absolutely brilliant, y'know? Better even than I was, and Kumo, well she's just a girl-" Hinata had then punched him arm.

"Hey! Kumo's going to be _better_ than the both of you, because, from what I've seen, Amaya women kick your ass!" she said, affronted. Kosuke blinked, and laughed, shaking his head.

"We go easy on them, y'know" he said, and she scowled.

"Why! That's cruel!" she said, and scooted away from his arm. It dropped uselessly to his side, and he looked at her confused.

"Because, they're girls, fundamentally they're not as strong. Fact" he said, and shrugged.

"And, can I just say, were you and Shira-kun going easy on me?" she demanded, and Kosuke's face darkened.

"At first, yes-"

"At first! So, you went all out when it looked useless, eh? And I _still_ kicked your ass!" she said, and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, well, you have the Byakugan!" he said, and Hinata laughed at his weak defence.

"And would you go easy of Sakura after that blow she dealt you?" she asked, and he froze.

"No, I wouldn't but she's-"

"Exactly the same as any other girl, since she doesn't have a Kekkei Genkai. It's rude Kosuke, and it doesn't exactly help the females train to their full potential, now does it? You'll regret that decision when the time comes for the women to save your life" she said, satisfied at making her point.

He huffed and crossed him arms, then looked at her.

"You teach them then" he said, and Hinata gawped at him.

"I-I-I c-can't! I'm j-just a f-farmer!" she said, and he laughed shaking his head.

"Transform then, Become that female ninja, on the horse! That one who shook up the foundations of the enemies! You could be, like, a role model!" he said, and chuckled.

"But, I'm not good Water Jutsus!" she said, and her shrugged, "I'll deal with that part of it, but, I'm not just going to beat up a bunch of girls. Jutsu's yes, Taijutsu, no" he said, and Hinata saw a plan form in his eyes.

"Come onnn, mysterious female ninja!" Kosuke's excitable voice rang out. Hinata sighed, fiddling with her mask. She's done some clever jutsu work with Sakura, and now she was taller, and a lot skinnier, and muscular than she would be normally.

She walked out into a courtyard, where Shun stood patiently, and a group of girls, or varying ages, but all younger than Hinata herself. There was about 7 of them, the oldest around 15, and the youngest at least 9. All the girls stood there, looking around the courtyard with a certain look of wonder, bar one, who was obviously a young Amaya Girl.

"Kosuke-nii-sama! Can we please hurry up?" the girl herself, shouted out rudely. Kosuke sighed, and ruffled her hair, before grabbing Shun's reigns and brining him over to where Hinata stood unsurely.

"Girls, This, is your new Sensei. She's the one who suggested better training for you, so thank her. She'll be your Taijutsu teacher, then you'll train with me at Ninjutsu, then, with another female ANBU Teacher for Genjutsu" he informed them, and Hinata though about Sakura, and what _her_ alias would look like, since she was the genjutsu teacher. Hinata grabbed Shun's reigns, and stepped forward, gathering her courage together.

"Good afternoon, young girls, I am your new sensei, as Kosuke-san has already pointed out and-" she as cut off by an outburst from the Amaya girl.

"Hey! How come you're so familiar with Kosuke-nii-sama!" she demanded, and Hinata looked at her bewildered.

"Amaya-girl, don't interrupt me again for such matters. Kosuke-san and I work together on a daily basis, if you must know. Now, I'd like to take you over to the Kirigakure training ground. However." she paused for dramatic effect.

"The last one to get there will _have_ to do a demonstration with me, so, chop chop!" she called, and clapped her hands, and watched with humour as they all turned and sprinted off. She laughed, and swung herself up onto Shun's back, turning to Kosuke. "Meet you down there" she said, and he nodded, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. She encouraged Shun onwards, and followed her students, down the Amaya stairs, urging them on, and calculating their strengths and talents.

The Amaya girl, while being the one taught the most, was certainly not the most skilful, nor had near enough stamina. The eldest easily stripped away from the younger children, and the 9 year old very soon began to fall behind. Hinata pulled Shun to a halt on the stairs, calling for the stragglers to hurry up. When the poor little girl came level, Hinata swooped down and grabbed her, depositing her in front of her, on Shun's saddle. She urged him on again, and towards the training grounds, where he easily overtook the remaining children.

By the time Hinata arrived, the 15 year old was already there, and she was staring at Hinata.

"Sensei" she called and Hinata turned to her.

"Yes?" she replied.

"What's your name?" she asked, and Hinata looked up to the sky.

"ANBU don't have names, but, you may call me Nanami" she said, and shifted her mask up, and out of her face, so that her features, very different from Hinata's own, but held a semblance, were on show.

Kosuke wandered over to the group of girls, and saw Hinata had let the youngest member of her group ride with her. He sauntered into earshot just in time to hear the oldest member of the group, offer to do the demonstration instead of one of the younger kids. Kosuke grabbed Shun, and hauled himself onto his back, and pulled him back a little, and he sat and watched the whole lesson.

As the last few kids struggled onto the ground, Kosuke's little cousin, Mai, the Amaya girl, ran into the grounds, puffing and panting, a dismal last.

"That wasn't fair! You let _her_ ride with you!" she shouted, and Hinata turned her steely gaze to the Amaya girl.

"She's very young, Amaya, and, I doubt even if she had come last, she's had very many things to show me. But, luckily for you, this young girl here" she gestured to said girl, "has offered to do the demonstration instead.

Kosuke looked at the girl again, and saw a familiarity in her features and stance. He wondered where he'd seen her before. She was medium height, with long straight black hair, and a very dark shade of brown in her eyes, almost black. She wasn't loud, but she was confident in herself, and looked at the others with a kind of superiority.

Hinata looked at the girl, and smiled to her, and when she didn't get a response to her kindness, she merely shrugged and beckoned her out into the field.

"You're that ninja aren't you, at Amaya Miyuki's funeral, the one riding that horse" she said, and nodded at Shun. Hinata froze, and then gave a stiff nod. "It was very brave and stupid to do a thing like that, y'know" The girl said, and Hinata burst into laughter.

"What's your name, girl?" Hinata said, a bit unpleasantly, but, the girl didn't seem to mind.

"Miaka" she said shortly, and Hinata waited for a second name, but, when she didn't part with the information, she mad a note to ask Kosuke later.

"Okay then, Miaka-san, do you want me to suggest some things for you to do, or would you just like to try and beat me up?" Hinata asked, and grinned at the young girl. Miaka's mouth twitched, as if she was almost going to smile, but, she simply said, "The latter" and launched an attack on Hinata.

Hinata dodged most of the early shots easily, but, Miaka became frustrated, and began to throw all of her skill and effort into landing a hit on Hinata. Hinata however, could beat over 1000 insects out of the sky, and not get a single bite, so no stuck up teenager was going to get her. However, when Miaka suddenly had a mini chakra burst, her fist came very close to connecting with Hinata's face, had Hinata not used a burst of Chakra speed to get away from the girl.

"Miaka, don't use Jutsu's in my Taijutsu class. I'll have no chakra here, thank you very much" Hinata said, and held her hands up, to stop the girl from launching into another attack.

"I'm sorry, Nanami-sensei. I didn't mean to…" she trailed off, and Hinata nodded, looking at her. The girl didn't have a great control over her Chakra, and it tends to burst out during fighting. That sounded familiar.

"Miaka, what's your family name?" Hinata asked, trying to sound light hearted. Miaka mumbled something, and then turned away.

"Pardon?" Hinata called, when Mai Amaya chirped up.

"Her name is Oki Miaka, sensei" she called, glaring at Miaka. Hinata sighed, and turned to Mai.

"It's rude to answer people's questions for them, Mai, now; I want you all to get fit for god's sakes! Every morning, I want _5 laps_ of this field! And, every night, when we finished training, I want another 5! NOW, GO GO GO!" The children groaned, but set off, without hesitation.

Hinata turned to Kosuke, who was frowning into the distance.

"Oki, as in…?" she began, but Kosuke shook his head.

"It's just a coincidence she has the same last name as the Mizukage. She says her name is Oki Miaka, and, while we questioned the both of them, neither of them have an affiliation with each other. She says that she won't change her name, because it's the only thing she's got in relation to her mother. When we asked her how she knew what her name is, since her mother died when she was very young. She says her carer knew. The carer says that she has a tattoo on her back. She's a suspicious girl, so, we keep tabs on her. In fact, I was out searching up information 6 months ago. A yearly thing we have to do. So, I was searching up information on the girl, when I came across a group of quite suspicious people, with features very similar to our dear Miaka's here. If they're her family, we'd tell her, but, when I mentioned her, they told me where to go. They know her alright, and, after the danger here has passed, I'd quite like to chase up this story. The poor girl hasn't got a soul. No mother no father; she looks different than the rest of us Kirigakure people. We're not as pale as her, and we have fairer hair. She's different, and people tend to, avoid her, as it were" he concluded, and Hinata felt a pang in her heart, as a story she recognised was panned out for her.

Uzumaki Naruto. This girl had a hell of a lot of skill for her age, even for someone of Kirigakure. Hinata, almost 17, this girl, barely 15, and Hinata, a Taijutsu master because of her family, had to try hard to avoid being hit.

"She's very talented, she must train an awful lot…" she said, and Kosuke laughed.

"She finds it difficult to master a Suiton no jutsu. I don't think she's very good with her chakra. She has these odd bursts of them, and then she can't handle simple water Jutsus…" he trailed off, and Hinata paused thoughtfully.

"Maybe a different approach would suit her more then? Well, if what you say is true, then, she's _not_ originated from Kirigakure" she fell silent as she saw her students approach.

"COME ON! KEEP UP, KEEP IT GOING!" she yelled in encouragement. As they slunk away, she watched them, while talking to Kosuke.

"Well, if she's not _from_ Kirigakure, then, there's a good chance, her chakra isn't compatible with water-type Jutsus. Maybe it's more suitable with, wind, or fire, or something" she said, and Kosuke just shook his head.

"That's a lot of effort, for just one girl though…" he said, and Hinata immediately jumped up, and swiftly dislodged him from the back of Shun. He let her push him off, and he rolled so he didn't hurt himself but, he was still angry she'd removed his comfortable position.

"Hey-!" but she cut him off.

"Kosuke" she said, her voice dangerous. "Everyone is worth every little bit of effort you've got to give. Don't give me that kind of attitude. Would you agree with your words, if it was Tsuyu, or Kumo, we were discussing? No, you'd want the very best for you family, siblings, and children, whatever. That's what people expect. The very best. And that girl deserves more than Tsuyu or Kumo" She cut off his outraged remark with a steely glare.

"She deserves more, because she had no one to fight for her. No one to put that effort in for her. She doesn't have a wonderful big brother like you to fight for her. She doesn't have a big powerful family to look after her. She has no-one, and that's why she deserves more than others" Hinata said, and Kosuke glared at her, hurt at her remarks. That's when he said something stupid.

"Yeah, and if you're so big on helping others out, what about your little sister huh? You've left her to defend for herself? After all these years, you haven't ever put in full effort, even for her sake!" he accused, and almost immediately regretted his words as he felt Hinata's chakra fluctuate, and her transformation slipped, leaving her with a vulnerable expression.

She stared at him for a while, before turning her head away, and digging her heels into Shun's flank, making him bolt off in a gallop.

Kosuke watched her ride away towards her students, Give Shun to Miaka to run with, and then help the rest of her students through the next 3 laps.

"Oh, shit. Sakura's gonna kick my ass…" he whispered savagely to himself, and retreated to a nearby tree. He was angry, yes, but, there was a good chance Hinata could be attacked. And, he didn't want that to happen, now did he?


	16. Oki Miaka

Chapter 16: Oki Miaka.

After a few days training the girls, Hinata realised that while Miaka had a lot of skill with Taijutsu, she didn't have a proper education. So, Hinata devised an way to enhance the girls to their fullest. Miaka could easily manage the 5 laps, so, instead of the laps after the lesson, she taught Miaka advanced Taijutsu, and filled in the holes in her education with the rest of the girls. Within weeks she had them all up to scratch, and She felt very close to them all.

However, Hinata realised she was attracting a lot of attention. After Hinata had sweeped Miaka's legs from under her for the 5th time that lesson, while Hinata taught her advanced stuff, she decided to ask what was wrong. It was rare for Hinata to knock Miaka over, she was similar to a cat, and for her to land on her back, meant something was up.

"Miaka-san, if you continue to fall on your back, I'll make it so you permanently stay there if you're not careful. What's bothering you?" Hinata asked, not unpleasantly, and held a hand out to haul Miaka up.

"They're watching us…" she muttered and looked sideways to the crowd of people Hinata had watched grow steadily during their evening practise. Hinata nodded, and sighed, before turning purposefully to the crowd. She whistled, and motioned for Miaka to follow her to her group of running girls.

"Girls, take a break for a second!" she shouted, and disappeared in a puff of smoke, and appeared at the group of people, where the girls now halted. The group of people muttered uncertainly as Miaka flashed down beside Hinata, but, Hinata just stood in front of her as she addressed her group.

"10 minutes rest girlies, you've worked hard today. But, I still want those last three laps. Anyway, it seems these lovely people want you for something" she said, and turned smartly to the group of people. They looked at each other uncertainly, and some shuffled away.

"Who are you?" a kid demanded, and was shushed hurriedly by a worried mother. Hinata, however, laughed, and jumped up on top of the fence that surrounded the field.

"You may call me Nanami. I'm these girls teacher. Now, even though eventually, they'll have to work under such pressures, its hard for me to train them while you're sitting there watching us. Now, little man, why don't you tell my why _you're_ standing there" Hinata said pleasantly, and the little boy looked a bit bashful.

He just lifted a finger and pointed at Miaka. Hinata froze, then her face darkened. She turned and looked briefly at Miaka, before turning back to the crowd.

"And little boy, why is my student of interest to you?" she asked, and gave his mother a sharp look, daring her to try and shush him. You got more blunt honesty from a child who thinks they're doing nothing wrong.

"She's strange, I guess. My Chichi (father) always tell me to avoid her, 'coz she's not from Kirigakure, and no one knows about her. But, I think, y'know, secretly…" he said, and leaned forward and did that whisper that young children do, when its not actually any quieter, but, they mean it to be.

"She's cool, coz she can do all that fighting stuff. And real pretty too" he said, and Hinata glanced over her shoulder, to see Miaka chuckle.

"That's nothing to whisper about, young man. You feel free to come and watch us do some cool fighting. But, the rest of you who're just here to stare at this poor girl, because you reckon she's different, I wont allow you to sit there and stare at her. She's my student, and I wont have you distracting her education. Now if you please. GIRLS! RUN! Miaka" Hinata turned, and grinned, and Miaka smiled back, before Hinata launched an attack.

"Nanami-sensei!" Miaka called, and Hinata resisted her urge to turn to her. She was not Nanami right now, but Kimi.

"Nanami-" Miaka stopped as she got close enough to see Hinata. Hinata turned, with the most innocent look possible, putting a flash of fear on her face.

"E-Excuse m-me?" Hinata stuttered, and took a step away from Miaka. Normally, Hinata would be an inch taller than Miaka, and as Nanami, her eyes cleared the top of Miaka's head. But, today, Hinata shrunk herself down to shorter than Miaka, to emphasise the difference between her two persona's.

"Ah, sorry, Madame. I thought you were someone else" Miaka said, her face burning, as she bowed deeply to Hinata.

"Ahh, i-its okay, m-miss. Have a g-good d-day" Hinata said, smiling and bowing back. Miaka looked at her briefly, her eyes flashing, Making Hinata wonder if she could tell she was her Sensei. She hoped to goodness she'd just leave and not ask questions anymore in her head.

"You too, Madame" she said politely, and disappeared into the Kirigakure crowd.

Hinata watched her go, smiling to herself, and looked around the lively crowd. The sailors were in port, so there were a lot of burly men, wandering round, simply having a good time. It was different from the usual busy purposefulness of Kirigakure. Much more fun.

Hinata sighed, and brushed her bangs back from her face, thinking she'd have to get them cut, when she got shoved by a huge sailor-man. She spun, clutching at her basket which she was putting her shopping in, and glared daggers at the man. He turned, and Hinata realised he was slightly intoxicated, and apologised to her.

"Little miss, I am sorry-ah!" he said, as he looked at her.

"Oi! Harou! It's that girl from the boat! The one who gave that young Amaya a mouthful!" he shouted, his voice lacing with amusement. Hinata thought back to the Ship she'd been on when first arriving in Kirigakure, and smiled at the sailor, recognising him vaguely. Another young man came into view, and Hinata recognised him as the boy on the boat she'd had a brief conversation with.

"Aoko Kimi!" he exclaimed and patted her on the shoulder, "is it not dangerous for you to be out by yourself?" he joked, and Hinata laughed, thinking of the irony of his remark. She glanced around, and motioned for Shino to come to her.

"Shino-nii-san! The sailors from our boat are here!" she said, and he wandered over to greet them pleasantly.

Hinata had felt bad about not being around Shino recently, but, it seemed, he'd been with Shira the whole time, and had learned a hell of a lot. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and Hinata felt, once again, that his protectiveness of her had increased since the incident with her.

"Good evening, good men. Did you have a good voyage?" Shino asked politely, and they had a nice conversation, into which Hinata quickly lost track of. She had no interest in that sort of thing.

"Kimi-san" Harou's gentle voice called out, and she snapped back to the conversation.

"Yes, Harou-san?" she said, smiling pleasantly. He looked at her for a second, and grinned back.

"Have you seen this stall over here? Look at these cute cats…" he said, and Hinata gripped Shino's arm as Harou led them through some of the more intricate and interesting stalls.

Kosuke, who was on duty at the time, was flitting across the rooftops, checking in on his team, when he heard an light entrancing laugh, than made him skid to a halt. He turned, and searched the crowd below him, to see Hinata, Shino, Sakura and some sailor he recognised. It was Hinata that was laughing, the loudest, her face alight. He scowled, and was just about to jump down to join them, when his right hand man came up beside him.

He was older than Kosuke, a distant relative, but, he understood that Kosuke was a lot stronger that him, and had more skill. Though, if they had a battle, he'd put Kosuke through his paces.

"Kosuke-kun?" he asked, slightly condescendingly. Kosuke snorted, and turned, dashing off again, to avoid questions. He had to stop wandering off into his own world during work.

But what were they playing at, befriending some random sailor? He could be anyone! He skidded to a halt again, and whipped round to look at the sailor again.

"Hey, who is that?" he demanded, pointing at the sailor. His right hand man raised an eyebrow at him, but, shrugged. He snapped his fingers, and muttered to one of his subordinates.

He turned back to Kosuke, "His name is Harou, he's a sailor, done nothing notable, good or bad. From a respectable sailing family, they own their own boats, but, he doesn't work on the family boats, apparently he's having a fight with his step-father. His real father was killed at sea. He goes to school in the winter, he must be coming ashore for a while. He doesn't want to continue to be a sailor, and would much rather be a Doctor, but not a Ninja. He is an only child, and owns an dog, and works out in the horse stalls in the pastures when he's studying at home. He's amiable, and strong, and has a tendency to look after others. In other words, he's boring, and not really a menace to society. Anything else, sir?" he said, with a note of sarcasm in his voice.

Kosuke snorted, and turned again, stalking away, then sighed, feeling like he should explain himself.

"Relatives from Konoha, I have to look after them" he said, nodding at the table holding the 3 Konoha ninja. "The young girl, she's already been attacked. My fault really…" he said, and his right hand man watched as the young man seemed to deflate as his confidence escaped him.

"That boss we took down a few months ago, he kidnapped her, and raped her, that's how we found him, and his hideout" he said quietly. His partner looked at him, and smiled punching his shoulder lightly.

"Come on kiddo, we're on duty. Your team will keep an eye out for them" he said, and Kosuke scowled at him.

"Call me kiddo again, and I'm shaving your head" he warned, then jumped off into the mist, to where he knew the next building would be. Kosuke smirked to himself, then felt a worried pang in his chest for his Konoha friends. He shook his head, and continued on his tour of Kirigakure none-the-less.

Hinata laughed at Harou, as he recounted a particularly funny story about him in the days his little puppy, Yuki, was going through a 'rebellious stage'. Sakura opposite her was laughing loudly too, and Shino was chuckling. She decided she liked Harou, but, she wasn't sure that she could trust him. It was twilight by now, and Hinata realised with a jolt, she hadn't exercised Shun, and her students would be waiting for her shortly. She jumped up, and remembered to be innocent.

"Oh! Darn, I promised Huyu-sensei I'd help him with Shun today, I'm sorry Harou, I'll have to get back to the complex!" she said, and turned to run off into the crowd, before she was struck with a pang of fear, making her stop in her tracks. She turned sadly to Shino, to ask him to escort her back up, when she felt a strong hand on her shoulder.

"Kimi-san, you were going back to the mansion?" Hinata whirled, and saw Kosuke looking at her with amusement. He looked over her shoulder to Shino,

"Can you please stay with Yuuna-san, Shino-kun? I'll come back down after I've accompanied Kimi-san if you wish to stay down with…?" he said, and looked at Harou questioningly.

"Ah, Harou, Amaya-sama" he said, and stood quickly to bow to Kosuke.

"Call me Kosuke, Harou-san" Kosuke said pleasantly, and Hinata smiled, liking that Kosuke got on with Harou. "I'll see you guys later" she said, and allowed Kosuke to help her onto his back, and he shot off into the rooftops.

"Have you finished work?" she queried, not realising how late it was.

"Just about, I've got 5 minutes to get up to the compound and report. I do circuits of the city, and I ended up where you were. I was just going to wander on past, but, I got a bit alarmed when you suddenly jumped up, so I walked on over" he explained, and Hinata was surprised at him. It was the longest contribution to something akin to a normal conversation she'd ever heard Kosuke do.

"Oh, of course!" she said back, bewildered by his sudden appreciation of normal conversation. "Ah, Kosuke, did you exercise Shun this morning?" she asked, and he glanced at her.

"No, I didn't, I was under the impression that you had taken him out. That's what a stable boy said" he said, frowning. Hinata shook her head, and sighed.

"I'm late for his exercise, and, he didn't have any this morning. He's going to be hell to control" she groaned, and he chuckled. "I can get some of the steam out of him if you like, then I'll bring him down to the training field?" he suggested, and Hinata thanked him for his concern.

"Can I ride him down to the field? I really want to, y'know. I love riding him" she said, in a childish tone. Kosuke chuckled, and shifted her higher up his back as he leaped up a trail used by the Amaya Ninja's to get straight to the stables. He leapt over the dividing wall, scaring the hell out Huyu and a young Colt, who pulled back shrieking. Huyu cursed, and Hinata and Kosuke dashed forward to bring him under control.

"Ah, Kimi-sama! There you are! Are you EVER planning on exercising that bloody Colt? He's been kicking the back of his stable all day! Its bloody annoying, and its putting the rest of the Colt's on edge!" Huyu complained as he Held his young Colt into check. Hinata laughed, and ran into the stable. Shun's head appeared at the door, and he whinnied and trotted on the spot in excitement.

"Come on, Shun dear, lets get you out!" she cried out, and flung his door open, throwing a blanket and a saddle on his back. He stood impatiently, forever shuffling around as she hurriedly strapped him up.

"Kosuke! I'm taking him out!" she called through, she heard a general shout back to show he'd heard, but, she just leapt up onto Shun's back, genuinely exited, and, pulled out her cloak, tying it round her neck, and attaching an Amaya mask.

She pulled his reigns tight, and turned him towards the entrance to the series of Tunnels that ran through the Amaya compound, and the hill it sat on.

"Run, Shun, RUN!" she shouted, and Shun whinnied and leapt forward, breaking into a gallop. She loved riding Shun. He was a joy to ride. Typically, he was far too big for her, but, he would fly across the ground. She had never rode on a horse that could gallop like Shun. It wasn't like the regular gallop, in which the rider had to stand in the saddle because it was uncomfortable.

Shun, however, did this weird floating gallop, which meant he went speeding along, and Hinata could hug close to his body, making them both more streamlined. He ran with an amazing grace, something a horse of Shun's size shouldn't really be able to possess. She made it through the tunnels, into Kirigakure, and at the training ground within at least 5 minutes. She pulled up Shun in front of her group of girls.

"Evening ladies! Sorry I'm a bit late, my good horse here was being a pain" she said pleasantly, dropping her voice down an octave, like she did when she was in Ninja mode nowadays. She jumped off Shun, and grabbed his reins. "Come on then, 5 laps!" she cried out happily, and ran with the group with Shun following behind. She tried to make it harder for Shun, to wear him out a bit, by running to Miaka at the front, to the little girl trailing along behind. She laughed, as she encouraged the girls to hurry up. She was noticing visible improvements the girls were going through. Faster, stronger, more stamina. They could all now do the entire 5 laps without stopping, or walking, even if it was just a pathetic trot, it was improvement. Also, Miaka had taken to attempting to sprint her last lap, something Hinata was proud at her for attempting.

As their last lap came up, Hinata sped up to Miaka, dragging Shun along with her.

"Miaka, can you take Shun when you sprint, perhaps? I can't be bothered with him" Hinata said, laughing. Miaka grinned to her, and took his reigns, patting his face, before speeding up into a sprint. Hinata liked Miaka. She was a very polite young girl, and, even though she was cold at first, she had become very warm towards Hinata.

When the last young girl had crossed the line, and they had all caught their breath, Hinata set them off warming up. Miaka, who'd already gone through the paces, was staring at one of those odd Gutters than ran through Kirigakure, carrying water. She had a look of deep concentration, and Hinata wandered over to query what she was doing.

"Nanami-sensei, can you teach me how to control my Chakra too?" she asked, and Hinata cast her a confused look. "Kosuke-san will teach you that after I'm finished with you" Hinata said lightly, but really, she wanted to teach Miaka.

"But, Kosuke-sama hates me, Nanami-sensei. I want to be taught by you, you at least actually care that I'll be able to fight, and I know you'll teach me right!" she said, and turned to her, with a desperation in her eyes. Hinata felt her tears well up, and she agreed immediately.

Hinata turned, and felt her heart sink as she saw Kosuke, standing close behind them, stroking Shun.

"A-A-Amaya-sama!" Miaka said alarmed, and she bowed deeply. Kosuke looked at her sadly.

"Oki Miaka" he said, and walked towards her, and Hinata wished she had the courage to tell Kosuke he looked positively frightening. He was so tall and intimidating, Hinata herself shrunk back, and Miaka looked terrified, as she seemed to shrink in front of him.

"I don't hate you. I just, come off as, like…That." he said, and stopped. Hinata looked at him, then at the terrified 15 year old.

"Miaka, dear, I think he's trying to give you confidence in him, that he _doesn't_ hate you, and that he'd like you to give him a second chance to show you he will try his hardest to train you" she said, smiling gently at Miaka, and nipped Kosuke's arm.

"OW! Nanami! What the hell! You just nipped me!" Kosuke suddenly cried out, jumping back from her.

"Miaka" Hinata said giggling, waving to Kosuke, "I give you the real side of the heir of the Amaya Clan. A complete, utter, moron" She slung an arm across Miaka's shoulder. Kosuke scowled at her, but he didn't say anything. "He's not good with words" she whispered to Miaka, who finally let out a small giggle.

"Miaka-san" Kosuke finally let himself relax.

"I'll have to get back to the others. Miaka, you needn't join in this lesson, you got the hang of this yesterday. I'll see you afterwards for the advanced Stuff" Hinata said, and ran back to her students.

"Yes, Hinata-sensei!" Miaka said cheerily, her fear of Kosuke dissipating.

"Why do you have so low a control of your chakra?" He questioned, and stepped out onto the water, his balance perfect. Kosuke had almost perfect chakra control, because Amaya called for it.

"I don't really know, Kosuke-sama…" she said quietly, and stepped out after him. She held for a moment, before her led sunk to knee deep into the gutter. She heaved a sigh, and Kosuke looked at her alarmed as she looked like she was going to cry.

"Miaka, come one, what kind of training have you had?" he asked, and she looked up at him.

"The academy for a bit, but, they, didn't want me there…" she muttered, and Kosuke frowned.

"Didn't want you where?" he repeated. His sources had told him that she'd rebelled, not that the academy had forced her out.

"I'm different, Kosuke-sama…" she said, her dark eyes flashing up to him. He felt a flash of pity for her, as he reviewed his opinion of her. "But, you don't need me to tell you that, Kosuke-sama" she said quietly. He looked at her, and then lowered his head.

"I'm truly sorry, Miaka-san. It was so very wrong of me to make these judgements of you. Its especially unfair on you" he said, and then crouched down so he wasn't so intimidating. Miaka laughed dryly, and stepped out of the gutter.

"Well then" Kosuke said, and reached into his pocket, and pulled out a flat very thin metal disk. He placed it in the palm of his hand. This training is the same in any country. He spread his hand out wide, stuck the disk to his palm with his chakra, and turned his hand upside down.

"Do this" Kosuke commanded, and, gave her the little disk. After a few seconds of concentrating, Miaka did as she was told, then turned her hand upside down. However, the disk began to heat up, and eventually it was thrown from her hand like a projectile, and embedded itself into the floor. Kosuke looked at her thoughtfully.

"I think, you have control over your chakra, certainly, its just, you misjudge the amount to use…" he said, and did a few hand signs, muttering some incoherent words, then walked upstream, before putting his palms on the surface of the water. Immediately, the water began to steam, giving off copious amounts of heat.

"Right, come up here, and walk onto this water. But be careful, this water is scalding hot, and if you fall in, you will be burned" he said, and Miaka gawped at him.

"But, Kosuke-sama! I can't do it! I'll be boiled alive!" she said, horrified at the preposition. He laughed, and stood up, before standing on one leg and slipping his ninja sandal off. He showed her his foot, which was much paler than the rest of his body, and she could see vivid burns everywhere across the bottom and sides.

"This is because I was too foolish, not because of a lack of skill. Now, you have a lot of skill, more than what I had when I underwent this training. Just don't be cocky, and don't tell yourself that you can't do this, because, I know you can, Miaka-san. You have the capabilities to surpass me and Nanami-san, you just have to push yourself, and have the right kind of training" he concluded, then gestured at the boiling water, before slipping his sandal back on.

Miaka took a deep breath, her confidence rallied by Kosuke's words. She put her foot out, and placed it onto the water, concentrating her chakra there. It wasn't like with the coin, the water moved, and had little density, so her chakra would automatically fluctuate to accommodate the constant change, but she didn't have the right kind of control anyway to accomplish that effectively. She stood there for 20 minutes, one foot on the shore, one on the water, shifting her weight every now and again. Eventually she sucked in her breath, and stepped out onto the water fully, and stood there on one foot.

"Good, Miaka, now, put your other foot down onto the surface, and spread the weight" Kosuke said quietly, watching her intently. She bit her lip, and realised that this again was a challenge. She stood there for a further 10 minutes, trying to spread her chakra carefully without loosing her concentration and falling into the water. She tentatively placed her foot down onto the surface, and sighed in relief, and turned to Kosuke. He applauded her quietly, then grinned.

"Now, walk over to me" he urged and she sighed, realising that she'd have to do everything she'd just done, in a split second to be able to walk across the surface. She had all the confidence in the world though, because walking on water was one of her goals, and she felt a huge sense of pride at accomplishing it.

"Hai, Kosuke-sama" she said quietly, then lifted her foot up, putting her chakra into the one foot, then placing the other down a pace away, and equalising the chakra, then putting all her chakra into the foot that had moved, before taking it out of the first foot.

She gradually increased her pace, which was a very slow one at first, and was walking up and down the water like some sort of mystical catwalk model.

"Very good Miaka-san, but, don't get cocky, you've still got to concentrate on your chakra-" he was cut off in what he was saying my a shrill scream from one of the other girls.

Miaka just and so managed to keep herself on the water as she turned to see what was going on.

Kosuke leapt to his feet, when he saw Hinata, sword to sword, with some unknown ninja.

"Nanami!" He yelled, and sprinted off towards her. Miaka jumped onto shore before she fell into the now cooling water, and took off after him, but, she was exhausted from the day's activities. She suddenly felt someone grab her from behind, and she viciously attacked out of instinct, and managed to buffet the attacker away. She glanced towards Kosuke and Nanami, and saw that Kosuke was chasing down the other Ninja, and Nanami was rounding up the girls, and was putting the smaller ones onto her giant horse's back.

Miaka dodged out of the way of the Ninja, but, didn't call for help. She caught a Kunai that was thrown at her, and used that as her only weapon, trying to keep her speed to match this other Ninja. However, this other one was far more advanced than her, and even though she'd been training with Nanami, she'd always held back. Finally, the Ninja swept her feet from under her, and caught her arms, pinning them behind her, and putting a blade to her neck. She struggled, but the sword cut into her neck, forcing her to stop.

The Ninja waited a few minutes, before shouting out in a terrible gravelly voice.

"You, over there, who goes by the name of Nanami!" Miaka watched as Nanami froze, and whipped round. "Miaka!" she called out, and urged the last children onto Shun, and slapped his hind, making him shoot off and out the training grounds. Nanami then began to run towards them both, but, a warning off the other Ninja made her stop.

"Ninja of Kirigakure, what do you want?" Nanami demanded, shifting her Amaya mask, which was attached the side of her head.

"You, Nanami. You are the rider of the Amaya horse Shun, who ridiculed the _real_ ninja's of Kirigakure. We're not like you, and your weak Amaya traditions and training. We're the real Ninja's, the real force, the real strength. And our entire race is baying for your blood. Now, if you'll come quietly, I'll let the girl go, unharmed" he said, and held out his hand to Nanami.

Miaka felt a panic rise in her chest, and she struggled. "Nanami-sensei! Don't do it! Not for me, you're too valuable! Only you can stop these jerks!" she said, and was hushed when Nanami put her finger to her lips. She shifted her mask to the front, then snapped it in half, so it covered her eyes, but left her nose and mouth on view.

"So be it" she said, and unsheathed her knife, and dropped it to the floor, along with all her other ninja things. She strode forward, and grasped her mans hand, and Miaka could feel the chakra flowing through her.

"No hand signs now, Nanami" he said, and swiftly crushed the bones in her hand, throwing Miaka away.

"Nanami!" Kosuke's voice rang out through the clearing, as he sped back towards her. The ninja cursed, and suddenly brought Nanami into the position Miaka was in, only seconds before.

"Amaya! Stay back, or I'll kill this woman. And it would be an awful shame, she would've made everyone so happy back at our headquarters" Kosuke skidded to a halt, a fierce look on his face, as he glared at the man. Miaka looked at the man, with his back to her, and felt a sudden rage at him. How dare he do that to Nanami.

Miaka looked at Kosuke, who was prowling closer. Hinata's pained cry suddenly pierced the air, and Miaka felt sick. She'd done this to her Sensei, and she was going to die for her. Miaka stood slowly, and quietly, and picked up Nanami's abandoned sword. She felt her chakra burning through her, and her vision went funny for a second, and she blinked back the tears of rage. She suddenly leapt forward, shouting out, and a few things happened at once.

Hinata ducked, and disabled the man with Jyuuken, before Miaka was even close to them both, and Kosuke darted forward, and pulled her away as Miaka descended on the man, ploughing Hinata's knife into him. Miaka jumped back immediately, as blood spattered on her, and Hinata darted forward and pulled her into a tight hug. Miaka shuddered, and Kosuke looked at the man. He checked him over for a few seconds, muttering things to himself, and making small notes of a strange tattoo on his forearm.

"He's dead" he said with sheer contempt, and kicked him for good measure, before removing Hinata's sword. Hinata heaved a deep breath, and checked Miaka over, and insisted that Kosuke should take her to get her wounds healed.

"Where are you going, Nanami-sensei?" Miaka asked, still a bit shaken from the previous excitement.

"I need to take the rest of my students home, they're probably all enjoying a lovely cup of tea from Huyu-san in the stables, but, they should go home" she said, a finality in her voice.

"Nanami-sensei?" Miaka said quietly, and Hinata turned to her, and was surprised to see tears coming down her face, "Nanami-sensei, please, can I stay near you tonight?" she asked, and raised her head to look at Hinata. Hinata's smile froze on her face, as she saw the glittering red eyes of an Uchiha glaring out of her from Miaka's pale face.


	17. Kirigakure's Retaliation

Chapter 17: Kirigakure's Retaliation.

After Hinata nearly fainted, and Kosuke shouted out things, then stood there laughing his head off, and after Sakura and Yamato had blown their cover of being farmers completely by demanding things and information off of Miaka, Asa thought he should really get involved and put a stop to the Konoha Ninja's suspicion.

They were in Kosuke's house, and Miaka was in the kitchen with Shira's mother, Hamako, who was making Dinner. Kumo was fast asleep in Asa's arms, and he himself looked very tired. Hinata felt a pang of guilt that she hadn't been able to help _Asa_ more, since he did have an awful lot on his plate, but Kosuke always just told her to either, not worry about it or he'd tell her to bugger off and mind her own business if he was irritated.

"Yamato-san, my good man, calm down. This girl has been under our watch since her birth practically. She grew up in a children's home, and has never had dealings with any suspicious persons. Kosuke" he said, and Kosuke handed a report to Yamato. Hinata leaned over, and was disgusted to see that it was a file on Miaka's entire life. She wondered what Kirigakure had on _her _and her team. It was obvious they were thorough with everything. They even had her rough weight throughout the years. However, the new information about her being of Uchiha descent, had not been put into it.

"I don't think she's like those Uchiha siblings, what's their names? Itachi and Sasuke. Nothing like them, with their many illustrious activities" he said, waving his free hand tiredly. Hinata watched Sakura, but, she didn't show it if she was bothered about Sasuke's casual mention.

"No, I don't either" Hinata piped up, and crossed her arms stubbornly, "I've been teaching her for about a month, and she had little to no experience with _real_ Taijutsu, but, she picks it up as fast as any Uchiha would. I saw her today learn to stand on water from scratch in under an hour" she explained, and Sakura's eyes flickered to her.

"That's a hell of a lot faster than Sasuke-kun. It took him at least 3 days to learn to climb a tree effectively" Sakura informed them, and Shino contradicted her in saying that she picked it up immediately. It just differs from person to person.

Hinata let the discussions continue, interjecting occasionally to defend Miaka. In the end, she had to pose a question to them all.

"But!" she had to raise her voice to quieten down Yamato and Sakura's heated discussion. "I think we're kind of missing the point here people. What will happen to Miaka _now_? What will she be treated like, as the only Uchiha person in all of Kirigakure? And what the hell are we going to tell her, since she's probably heard this entire conversation, isn't that right, Miaka?" Hinata called out, turning her activated Byakugan to the door, where an activated Sharingan, with only 1 point on both pinwheels stared back at her.

She watched as Miyuki jumped, and she nodded, before calling out, "A bit, yeah" and her voice floated clearly through the doors. Asa sighed, and rubbed his eyes.

"We'll have to keep her here. She will be trained under Amaya watch, and she will have her quarters in our Ninja district, and she will work to earn a living. From now on, she's as Genin status, and will need a Kirigakure Headband. Hinata and Kosuke, you'll look after her, and you lot can tell her whatever the hell you like, I'm going to bed" he said, and gently stood up, and took a sleeping Kumo out of the room, and off to his quarters.

"The truth, I say" Shino said suddenly, and Hinata looked at him gratefully, before nodding her approval. "The truth, she's heard too much" she said sadly, and Sakura looked indecisive, before agreeing. Yamato heaved a sigh:

"I don't like this, y'know. This seemed a bit too strange. Uchiha's are an extinct clan. Uchiha Itachi made sure of that. We haven't heard of any other Uchiha before now, even though Kosuke, you say you fought one" he said, and Kosuke shrugged.

"As far as I'm aware. But, the odd thing is" he said, and paused a fraction of a second to highlight his point. "I met that Uchiha, while researching Miaka-san for this file" he said, and tapped Miaka's file. "I could've been on to something, or it could've been a relative of her's, or something" he suggested, and Hinata shrugged.

"Just, come one, we've got to let her rest. Get her in here" Sakura said, and Hinata stood, and went to let Miaka in. She walked in, looking positively alarmed, and she sat down by herself on a sofa, and the 4 Konoha ninja, Kosuke and Shira (who was actually asleep in the corner, he wasn't really interested in this) faced her. Hinata began.

"Miaka-san, my name is Hyuuga Hinata, pleased to meet you" she said, and bowed her head. Miaka bowed in return, "Uchiha Miaka, apparently…" she mumbled back.

"Yamato"

"Aburame Shino"

"Haruno Sakura"

"Amaya Kosuke. Yes, I really am him" Kosuke said finally, and Miaka giggled.

"Miaka-san, you've injured your neck. Will you let me heal it?" Sakura offered, and Miaka complied, wiping away the dry blood off her neck. Once a few pleasantries had been passed, Hinata made them all sit on the floor, on cushions, like a traditional Japanese household. Sheltered by the sofas, and upon moving away a coffee table, they were a lot closer together, and it was a great deal warmer, something Hinata appreciated.

Hinata sat next to Miaka, and Kosuke seated himself close behind Hinata, and the rest followed suit into the rough circle pattern, all eyes on Miaka.

"Now, Miaka" Hinata began, and she shifted as she felt Kosuke's arm brush against her, "you must have some questions. You may ask us anything now, and we will answer them as fully as we can. If we cannot, we shall tell you, and we will give you an adequate reason why we can't" she said, and trapped the rest of the Ninja into telling the truth to the best of their ability.

"What exactly happened to the Uchiha's?" she asked, and they fell silent.

"Well, no one really knows. The way it was, was that the Uchiha's were very similar to this noble house of Amaya. They formed a police force, which is now devoid of all Uchiha's, obviously, as a truce to the First Hokage. And they protected our village for generations. They were exceptional fighters. Their Kekkei Genkai enabled them to become vicious, and dedicated fighters. Their teachings were sometimes strict, and children would often grow up to dislike their parents. The amount of Uchiha ANBU I knew who wouldn't lift a finger to defend their parents, it was quite disturbing. However, good Kids did appear, and it wasn't a genetic trait of Uchiha's to be miserable" Yamato flashed a grin at Miaka, and she choked out a sad laugh.

"Anyway, they kept their Uchiha secrets very close to their chest, keeping the scrolls detailing their techniques in their Uchiha households, all in various places in the fire country and in other places. Naturally, Konoha did try and get a sneaky peek at the scrolls, but, only Uchiha's bearing a Sharingan can see them. They recently updated it so that only people with both eyes containing Sharingan can view them. A precaution that was required when a member outside of the Uchiha clan acquired the Sharingan in one eye" Yamato explained as briefly as he could. He didn't like to talk about sensitive issues in a Kirigakure household. But, it was inevitable.

"So, Itachi was one of these children who were less than fond of their over bearing parents. Sasuke was a younger brother to a child prodigy, so, was always in the shadow of his brother. He didn't resent him though, just felt inadequate next to him. Admired him mostly. So, as you can imagine, when Itachi wiped out the entire clan, and we're talking an awful lot of people here, it had a bit of an bad side affect on young Sasuke. However, Itachi didn't kill him, instead ordered him to hate him, and use that hate to become strong enough to kill him one day. And that's the sad truth of it, I'm afraid. I can offer you no glitter to this story. Itachi was affiliated with the S-class ninja group, Akatsuki, and Sasuke went off to the evil Sannin Orochimaru, who killed the third Hokage of Konoha. Sasuke wanted to gain power to be able to defeat his brother, and, in the end killed Orochimaru. He wanted to regenerate into Sasuke's body, because of his Sharingan. Sasuke left Orochimaru, gathered his own Ninja team together, and Sasuke found Itachi, and killed him. Sasuke's whereabouts and intentions now are unknown" he concluded, rather grimly at his morbid summary of the Uchiha Sibling's painful life.

"Oh" Miaka said, and sighed. "I hope I'm not closely related to them two. Crazy seems to run in that family…" she muttered out, and Yamato chuckled lightly. She frowned at the floor for a second, before straightening suddenly.

"So, what does having this…Sharingan, Actually mean? I don't know much about Kekkei Genkai's, but, aren't they really bad things? Like, totally out of control, and devastating. Couldn't I be killed if people find out about this? I mean, that's the general thoughts in Kirigakure! That people with Kekkei Genkai's are killed! What's going to happen?" Miaka demanded, her alarm increasing by the second as it dawned on her what situation she was in.

Hinata touched her hand lightly, and soother her gently, so they could get a word in edgeways. "Now, I don't know about the Amaya, but, you're a citizen of Konoha if you're one of our noble families. You have about 3 acres of land all to yourself back at Konoha, along with several households dotted about the country. You're the owner now, and your Eyes prove it" She said, and she felt Kosuke shift behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, and was surprised to see him stand up. Hinata turned, so she could see his face, and felt a jolt of fear as he was scowling at the floor.

"Is that what you honestly think of Amaya?" he asked in a flat tone of voice, something that scared Hinata. The rest of them steadily rose to their feet.

"Kosuke…" Hinata said, at a loss for words.

"Is that what you think of Amaya? Of my family? Of Us? Of me?" he demanded, gesturing to his house, and Shira, now awake and scowling out the window next to him, then finally to himself.

"You think we're just some farmers, look after our stock, and just put down the ones unworthy? You think we're that cruel?" He demanded, and Hinata flinched.

"Kosuke-san, i-i-I, well, th-the s-s-stories we've b-been told about, Kiri-Kirigakure, i-well, i- j-just…" she trailed off as Kosuke sighed, and turned the full force of his fiery gaze upon her.

"Stories. You should know better than that, really. No one outside of this room will learn of her Kekkei Genkai, or yours, or Yamato's. We aren't the people who hate Kekkei Genkai. The people of Kirigakure are led on by stupid gang bosses who just can't take responsibility for their own misgivings" He spat out at her, and stood up straight, his judgement ripping through her strength.

Suddenly, a leg cam out of nowhere and hit Kosuke across the face. He span and stumbled to the floor, utterly surprised by the sudden attack. Miaka stood, panting slightly, her eyes glowing red, as another pin in her wheel appeared in her eye.

"Don't you DARE speak to Nanami-sensei like that, _Kosuke-sama_" she spat out with equal venom to him just a second ago. "She is your guest in this country, and she doesn't know our ways and customs. And, may I remind you, that even if you don't spill the beans about Kekkei Genkai, you sure as hell keep a thorough record on 4 year olds" she shouted and him, and threw her own file in his face.

He stood up, shocked at her sudden outburst in defence of Hinata. "Treating a young girl like you did Kosuke, you ought to be ashamed of yourself!" she said, and stood on her tiptoes to gain a little bit of height on Kosuke. He just, spluttered, "but, I didn't know about you really, it's not my fault-" he stopped short as Sakura now got involved by slapping him across the face, something that sent him tumbling in the other direction.

"What were you just saying about 'people who can't take responsibility for their own misgivings'? It's never your fault, is it Kosuke? Its always someone else, and when it IS actually someone else, you run around blaming yourself, and be all angry! Just, calm down a second, and think like a rational person. You cannot shout at a person for being ignorant of the rules and regulations of a different country. She was merely acting on her first instinct, and the fact that she's had to fight off some vicious men since she came here, so you can't tell her off for being suspicious of some of the members of your family. And, you hypocrite, I've bet you've got files exactly like that one" she jerked a finger at Miaka's file on the floor, "on family members you don't trust. So don't you get all angry at Hinata, and strip away the little confidence she's got because you're too fucking proud!" Sakura eventually took a deep breath, and scowled at him.

Hinata expected him to cave in and apologise, like he normally does, but, she guessed that something must have really hit home. He suddenly whirled round, and stormed out the room, ruining a sliding paper door, and disappearing off into the house.

Miaka and Sakura crossed their arms and huffed in unison, which made Hinata giggle lightly.

"Nanami-I mean, Hinata-sensei, why didn't you just Kick his ass? You're not scared of him, I've seen you shout at him before, and humble him. You could take him" Miaka said, turning to her. Hinata just smiled, and suddenly pulled Miaka into a hug. She felt the poor girl stiffen under her touch, but she immediately responded to her and hugged her back.

"I can't take on Kosuke" Hinata said, and Sakura and Shino immediately began to protest at her putting down of herself. She waved her hands to shush them, and turned to Miaka.

"Kosuke, even though it pains me to say, has some inner strength that only certain people can posses. You have it, he has it, and a friend of mine back at Konoha has it. They have this huge drive to just do that they want to, and they have something that makes them want to protect people. You can develop this drive, but it usually develops under odd circumstances" Hinata explained, and smiled to Miaka.

"Just then, when Kosuke was protecting the image of his family, I could not have harmed a hair on that boy's head. I'm fast, but, Kosuke's faster. I'm strong, but Kosuke's stronger. I'm driven, but he's run on fire itself. That's the way it goes. I knew that. I don't blame him for his anger. I should go talk to him, I think…" she trailed away as Shira suddenly stood up, and moved towards her.

"I'll talk to him first. He's had a bit of a rough day. I'll quiet him down. He got very worked up tracking down those ninja. Thankfully, I was there to stop him totally beating those ninja into a bloody pulp. He was real pissed off. And seeing you in a hostage situation, both of you. I'm surprised he didn't tear the dead body apart. Usually when he's that angry, that's what he does"

Hinata considered Shira's grave face, before nodding quietly, casting her eyes to the floor. Miaka and Sakura acted out of an instinct to protect her from Kosuke, but, really, every one of them were in the wrong, and too hasty to act without thinking. They had all done wrong by each other, and Hinata could see that the strains in their lives were impeding their relationships. They needed to get along to survive.

Shira quickly hurried from the room as a loud bang echoed through the halls, which signified Kosuke had ruined something. Hinata sighed and sat down, and looked at Sakura and Miaka to follow her lead.

"Listen" she began, hold each of their stares so they would listen. Asa was out of view, but, she knew he'd be listening intently. "We need to work together. Everyone of us. I don't know Kirigakure, but, none of you can deny that they're less than impressed about a Kekkei Genkai. You cannot deny that fact. So we must stick together, as suspicions are being raised of out presence, I'm trying to do a good thing with my girls and to distance myself with us, and we're trying to hide all of this from the Mizukage" she said, and Miaka looked at her bewildered.

"Why? I mean, I know he's a complete git, but, why not include him?" she queried. Hinata looked at her, considering how much exactly to tell her. She was an outcast, but she could still be loyal to her country. So she spun a half truth.

"He has enough on his plate right now, and, we don't want him to think that Amaya are so weak they can't even defend themselves. It would instil distrust in him, in a time when working together is our greatest strategy" she concluded, feeling guilty for spinning Miaka a line. But, Miaka did not need to know about her country's misgivings and teething problems.

Shira stood up suddenly, "Go to bed" he said simply, and began extinguishing candles. Hinata hadn't realised it had grown so late. She quickly rustled up a room and some bed clothes for Miaka, checking she had everything she needed, before shutting the bedroom door behind her.

She glanced around the corridor, trying to place her direction. In the dim light the hallways looked the same, and the light played tricks on her. She wandered aimlessly for a few minutes, before promptly climbing out a window and onto the room, where it was less confusing. Kneeling right by the edge of the roof, she inhaled deeply, savouring the sweet night air.

"Nanami-sama!" a voice called out. Hinata turned, to see a young stable boy, scrambling across the roofs to her. She could literally smell the panic and fear on him.

"Something Terrible has happened!"

Hinata landed in the stables, hurtling through the door, and running straight into Kosuke. Tears were pouring down her cheeks, but her face was contorted with rage.

"What Happened?" she demanded, pushing past Kosuke to see the mess of the once beautiful and proud stallion.

Shun had been strapped down, to stop him from hurting himself even more than usual. He had been attacked on the way back to the stables. He had been carrying all the young girls. Hinata stared down at the wide rolling eye of the horse. The other had been bandaged up. He had great welts and chunks taken out of his flanks, but Hinata also saw blood on his hoofs. He hoped they were the blood of the attackers.

Hinata turned to look at Kosuke when he didn't reply. What she saw made her heart just break. Kosuke had silent tears streaming down a stony face. She could see the grief raging behind his glazed look.

"Kosuke, its okay, Shun will get better. He's not prime anymore, but, he will survive at least" she soothed. He just frowned and looked confused, before a look of realisation appeared.

"Oh Hinata… They Killed Mai" he said shortly. Hinata was nearly sick then. She thought of the young Amaya, so loud and confident. Her student, so bright, so much potential. Hinata Collapsed to the floor, clawing at her constricting chest. Kosuke fell to his knees beside her, his tears quiet.

Hinata just punched the floor, and gritted her teeth together, trying to pull herself together.

"How? Why?" she screeched, her hand moving over to grip tightly on the front of his clothes. He cleared his throat, waited a second, then spoke, in a choked up disjointed voice.

"They attacked all the girls on the way back, when they attacked us. It was just a distraction. They didn't mean to Kill us. If they did, they wouldn't have sent just 2 people, not against me and you. In the tunnel… They found a few unconscious girls, some of them had ran away, but in that tunnel… Its only for horse travel, not for young girls, on their own" he stopped, shook his head and wiped his eyes. "They weren't found till ten minutes ago when Shun limped back up here, dragging one of his legs, with most of the girls following him. The eldest among them told us what happened. They went down, as quick as possible, and brought back all the kids, and only realised Mai… When they were up. They meant to kill her. It looks like Shun Killed three of them, the good lad… Her injuries were obvious, it was brutal…" he sniffed, and shook under her hand.

"The rest of the girls were unharmed, maybe 1 or two bruises. But she…" he sobbed then, and suddenly grabbed Hinata and dragged her into his chest, where he squeezed. She felt the wet tears on the top of her head.

"Oh, Hinata, they tortured her… Because she was Amaya. They said we would pay, but this is way beyond what we expected. They must be really pissed off. They have initiated a war against us" he then pushed her back to look in her eyes. "There's a good chance you will be targeted, as both Kimi the Farmer and Nanami the ninja" he said, and cast his eyes down. "This isn't in your contract, you're not a ninja here… I am revoking all your contracts, as our threat is visible now, and not lurking" he said then cleared his throat.

Hinata pressed her fingers to his lips. "If they come for me, I will fight. Make no mistake of that. I am not leaving, not now. I wouldn't feel right, by Mai" she whispered to him. He looked at her, his eyes bloodshot, his cheeks wet, and he saw a Hyuuga in her. Proud, strong and elegant in everything. Her pain was clear in her features, but her eyes were steady as they met his. He sucked in his breath, and nodded.

"Okay, I'll be the one to tell my father then" He shivered "he's gunna be seriously angry"

Hinata had been to too many funerals at this place for her liking. This funeral was less grand, with only Amaya and friends turning up to pay their respects, and not the entire town. They held it in the compound, and she was buried with honour in the graveyard. The girls eventually told the Amaya what happened, and Mai died protecting the others against their attackers. Hinata Abandoned a lot of pretence, and let others decide if she was Kimi or Nanami at the moment. She just wanted to be Hinata for a while. She had the same duty as with Miyuki's funeral, the Lookout. Her Mask covered her face, and her vision was stretched far. Kosuke had told her to hope the enemies knew nothing, but assume they knew everything. Any medical ninja could extract truth from people's mind, and someone, somewhere has probably figured everything out. Its just if that someone is an enemy or a friend.

As it happened, the funeral went down without any major problems. That is, until Oki Setsuna, the Mizukage, turned up to give his condolences. When Hinata saw him arrive, (normal vision, not Hyuuga) her eyes immediately flickered around searching for Natsuo, Miyuki's relative, and Kosuke's cousin. But of course, this was an Amaya funeral, so he would not be here. Setsuna made a beeline for the parents, sharing his condolences, before turning and coming to where they were, to Asa. His face was grim, and Hinata felt her curiosity rise in this man. Where does he stand in the killing of innocent girls?

"Amaya-san… I am, truly sorry for this. I wish I knew what was happening" with this, he looked pointedly at Hinata, "and you should know I would not wish this upon any family, and I wish I could support you" he sighed, and rubbed his eyes. "I do not know what to do with these rebellious ninja's, rising up in my own ranks. It disgusts me they would sink to the level of old, when we used to encourage the murder of kids… I had so hoped they had learned" his sentence trailed off, as he stared into the distance. "What am I to do, Asa?" he whispered, looking at Asa, who carried his little girl, Kumo, close to him. Asa just held a level stare, and with a dark voice he replied; "turn a blind eye to keep your Mizukage status. Help us to right the wrongs put against us, and bring rules back to these people. Help them, and kill all of our innocent children" with which he passed Kumo over to Setsuna to hold. The young girl stared up at Setsuna, then laughed, and babbled with bubbles and spit falling down her clothes.

Hinata watched anxiously, but was relieved to see Setsuna's face melt, and he held Kumo close. "I love this country, and my own ninja's fed me lies about the Amaya Clan. Said that you were the evil unforgiving ones. That these people" he waved a hand towards Hinata, Yamato, Sakura and Shino, "were assassins, out to kill me" he sighed. "If that were true, I'm sure Hinata-san would've killed be by now" he said, and smiled sadly at Hinata.

"Why do you call her Hinata, Mizukage-sama?" questioned Kosuke, his whole body tense while Setsuna held Kumo.

"Oh, the others, they know she's the Hyuuga Heiress, Hyuuga Hinata, as well as the identities of the rest of you, except Yamato" he said, his eyes flickering between them. "They told me in an attempt to gain my favour, to prove these were Konoha Ninja. I don't know what to believe, except that you four are fighting for Amaya, and you protected these good people thus far. And, that among you, you have suffered a great deal for being here" his eyes then stared at Hinata, and he remained silent for a while, before heaving a sigh, and giving Kumo back to Asa.

"Amaya-sama, you know I can't choose sides. Just, please, make sure my people are safe…" his voice trailed off, he heaved a sigh, and cast his gaze around there group. Which was when he spotted Miaka. He froze, staring at the girl, then looked at Kosuke.

"Oki Miaka…?" he questioned, and Kosuke just shrugged.

"Huge talent" he said shortly, then gestured to Hinata. "Nanami's student" was his only explanation. Setsuna just gave a grim nod, and turned sharply before melting into the mist.

Hinata let out her breath before she suffocated and looked around at the dispersing people. Mai's parents stood close to her grave, which was now being covered up solemnly, and Hinata guessed they wouldn't move for hours. "I think I'll go to my room, if that's alright" she said, and those around her just nodded, and let her go.

Hinata later was lying flat on her back, just staring at the ceiling. Sakura had knocked and quietly asked if she was alright, as had Shino, but she had convinced both she just needed a sleep. Her mind was so chaotic, Hinata knew that's exactly what she did need, but, she would never get there. Instead she rolled once again, and clutched at blankets, trying to hug something, grasping for any sort of comfort. In fact, instead of being on the verge of sleep, Hinata was on the verge of tears, willing with all her strength that they would just evaporate before they fell. A knock at the door frightened her, making a stray tear roll down her cheek.

"Hinata" Kosuke's smooth voice called out to her.

"I'm alright Kosuke-kun" she called back, just about able to stop her voice from breaking.

Kosuke opened the door, and walked in anyway, gently shutting the door behind himself.

Kosuke looked at Hinata, and sighed at her harassed star, and shaking body. He literally had no control over his actions as he walked fluidly over and circled his arms round her, pulled her down on the bed and just held her close. He felt maybe he needed that hug more than her. He could feel her tense under his arms, and his heart ached even more at the horror those close to the Amaya must suffer at the hands of these people.

"Hinata, I swear, if it costs me my life, I will stop these people terrorising us" he whispered, and Hinata relaxed against him, wrapping her thin arms around him in response.

She felt a small amount of comfort in his touch, but not as much as she hoped. Kosuke was a mystery to her. He seemed so happy, so loving, but Hinata had been among the people to see an enormous amount of ferocity that burned away beneath the surface, powered by huge strength. In a way, he reminded her of Neji, except he didn't act strong, and powerful.

Hinata thought that this gave him an advantage about Neji, because people would seriously underestimate him.

For the moment however, she would enjoy his calm side. Because, surely, murdering Mai was only the beginning of their assault.


End file.
